iProve Freddie's Love
by lifeisveryshortsoami
Summary: "Freddie Benson does not love me!" "Sam, listen to me. Freddie is in love with you!" "Did you fall out of a tree or something?" Sam Puckett wants to run away after kissing Freddie Benson. Can Melanie convince her to stay?
1. iPrologue

Okay, so this story takes place after iOMG (as do many of them on the iCarly page right now). I know, I know. You guys are sick of reading stories that take place post-iOMG. Well, this one is different. How, you might be asking? You'll see after you read it! Please give it a chance? I'll give you a cookie! It picks up exactly where the episode left off - right after the seddie kiss. I promise this isn't like anything you've read before though. Well, not any of the seddie stories I've seen posted, anyway. And, trust me, I've been reading a LOT of them lately!

I'm still fairly new to this fandom. I've only written one other seddie story and it was a one-shot. Your reviews were so positive, I thought I might try a multi-chapter story. Let me know what you think of it?

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Dan (who tweeted me once!)

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><p>iPrologue<p>

_Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson kissed._

_The would should have ended. Sam half expected a bolt of lightning to shoot from the sky, striking her straight in the heart. When it didn't happen, she begged the ground beneath her feet to open up, allowing her to fall to the center of the Earth. Even the heat of the equator would be worth enduring if it meant escaping the stare Freddie sent in her direction._

_Obviously, the nub was shocked. He'd been talking to her one second, advising her to go after whatever guy the Pear Pad said she was in love with. The next, she was shutting him up by pressing her lips to his. She knew she promised they would never kiss again. At the time she made the promise, she believed it would be fulfilled. How was she supposed to know she'd fall in love with him someday?_

_She was so stupid. She should have let Freddie think he and Carly were right, that she was really in love with Brad. It would be easy enough to fake; all she had to do was tell the new iCarly intern her feelings, wait for him to shoot them down (which she was sure he would do. She was, after all, Sam Puckett, the girl too scary for boys to date). Then, she would report back to her friends, tell them the news, and go on with life._

_But no. Instead of taking the easy way out, Sam did the one thing she found herself doing too often: acting before thinking. While Freddie stood in front of her, encouraging her to make a move on the guy he thought she was in love with (having no idea he was referring to himself), Sam found her eyes locked on his face. She wanted his lips to stop moving - he had a habit of talking too much - and she wanted him to turn his gaze to something, anything, other than her eyes. She realized too late that she could have been the one to look away first. If she had done so, there never would have been a kiss because it was while they stared at each other that Sam lost all control._

"_Sorry," she apologized, meaning the word for the first time in her life. All her other apologies were only said when someone forced her to say them. The words never came from her heart._

_Standing in the deserted courtyard, watching as Freddie gaped at her, Sam found herself wishing she could go back in time. The kiss was completely uncalled for. It was Freddie Benson, the boy she couldn't last a week without picking on! He had every right in the world to think she hated him. If she was in his shoes, she'd think the same thing._

_What would he say now that he knew the truth? Now that he knew she was in love with him, would it change anything? Had she tortured him enough throughout the years that she had thrown away her chances of ever being more than friends with him? What about his crush on Carly?_

"_It's cool," Freddie finally replied._

_Sam wasn't stupid. She could read it in his eyes. Freddie was trying to keep the peace between them, forcing the awkwardness of the situation away instead of dealing with it. As much as he wanted Sam to believe everything was good between them, she knew things were anything but._

_No students were allowed to leave the school until morning, but Sam had never followed the rules before. Why start tonight?_

_She ran. She ran from Freddie and the unspoken words that would never find their way into the air. She ran from Carly, who might have been the only person who could help her. She ran from Ridgeway, the stupid school she wished her mom had never enrolled her in. If she hadn't gone to Ridgeway, she would never have met Carly or Freddie. She would never have allowed her walls to fall, lying in shambles around her broken heart._

_There was a reason Sam acted tough all the time. She didn't want to be like her mom. She didn't want to be tossed about by people or used by anyone. She was her own person and no one would ever lay a hand on her. She promised herself at an early age that no matter what life threw at her, she would always make sure she could handle it. Nothing would bring her down._

_Freddie was her exception. Somewhere along the way, despite the arguing she did to push him away, warning him to stay out of her life, Sam found herself drawn in at the same time. Freddie was the only guy brave enough to look past her outer shell. He stuck around no matter how many insults Sam threw at him or punches she gave him. He stayed-_

_-And for some unfathomable reason, Sam fell in love with him because of it._

_The damage was already done. Sam had brought Freddie to his breaking point. She was stupid for falling in love with him - she was even stupider for thinking he might be in love with her, too. She kissed him and all he could do was say, "It's cool," in an obvious attempt to tell Sam he wasn't interested._

_Well, that was fine with Sam. She didn't need Freddie to love her - heck, she didn't need the nub to like her at all! Freddie Benson was the last person she needed in her life. She could live without him. She would be better off without him._

_When Monday morning came and Freddie strolled into Ridgeway with Carly at his side, he would see how much Sam didn't need him. How would he know?_

_There was a simple answer for that: Sam was running away._

* * *

><p>The Puckett house was dark when Sam barged through the front door, not bothering to close it behind her. Who cared if some random hobo followed her inside? She'd be gone in fifteen minutes - twenty tops. The hobo and whatever he stole would be her mom's problem.<p>

Grabbing her favorite blue suitcase, Sam stomped up the stairs to her bedroom, making as much noise as possible. She was the only one home. Her mom had gone out on a date, her father hadn't showed his face since before she was born, and Melanie was off at her boarding school. Sam wanted to be loud. She deserved some time to react, didn't she? She was new to this whole love thing, but she had a feeling most girls reacted poorly after finding out the guy they loved didn't feel the same.

"I hate you, Freddie Benson!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs after tossing her door aside, letting herself into the room she slept in when she decided not to spend the night at Carly's (which wasn't very often).

Like her shout had summoned the nub in question, Sam's eyes went straight to the wall farthest from her. There hung photos - hundreds of them - from the past four years, some dating back to the beginning of iCarly. Hundreds of Freddie's smiled down at her, leering in a manner that seemed to say, "And you said you'd never fall in love with me! What's wrong, Sam? Did someone fall in love with their dorky technical producer?"

"I'm not in love with you!" Sam informed the pictures. "Didn't you hear me? I said I hate you, Freddie Benson! I hate, hate, HATE you!"

To prove her point, Sam rushed to the wall, ripping photos off. She didn't care if they were photos of her and Carly without Freddie. Honestly, she didn't take the time to check who was in them. She was angry and her fingers needed to destroy something. Tearing Freddie's face into millions of pieces seemed like a better idea than punching a hole through the floor.

Once every last picture was gone, Sam turned to her dresser. Her clothes - thrown into the drawers without being folded first - went from their location to the suitcase. She had no idea where she was going; maybe she'd see if she could befriend one of the many hobos who lived around her neighborhood. Maybe she'd take her mom's credit cards and hop on the nearest bus. Whichever path she chose, she had a feeling she would need both short-sleeved shirts and sweaters. Taking her toothbrush might not be a bad idea either…

Taking one last glance around her room, Sam decided she didn't need anything else. She had clothes, a few personal belongings, at least a day's supply of fat cakes-

"Mama needs more than fat cakes if she's taking a long journey," Sam reminded herself, placing a hand on her stomach, which rumbled loudly. "I wonder if we have any fried chicken?"

Dragging her suitcase down the staircase she'd stormed up minutes earlier, Sam threw open the door of her refrigerator, searching for anything edible. She was wondering if meat was okay to eat if it was green when she heard a throat clear behind her.

'_Chiz!' _she thought, closing her eyes bitterly. _'A hobo really did follow me inside!'_

Whirling around, her hands clenched into fists so she was prepared to fight whoever was in the kitchen with her, Sam paused as her eyes landed on the newcomer. They were shorter than most hobos, had longer hair than most, and was dressed in a pink, frilly skirt.

Melanie Puckett stood five feet from her twin, eying the suitcase suspiciously.

Running away wasn't going to be quite as easy as Sam thought.

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><p>"Let me get this straight." Melanie tapped the countertop, her manicured nails making a soft <em>plink <em>noise against the material. "You're running away from home."

"That's usually what happens when a person packs a suitcase and takes off in the middle of the night without telling anyone," Sam replied.

"I don't get why you're running away." Melanie's face scrunched up in confusion. "Is living with mom that bad?"

Sam moaned, wondering if Melanie would find it rude if she turned her attention back to the refrigerator. She really needed some ham, especially if her sister was going to make her relive the entire evening.

"Look, you wouldn't understand even I told you why I was running away," Sam said, shaking her head. "Why don't you run back to your perfect little world at your perfect little boarding school and forget I existed?"

"I can't forget you existed! You're my sister!"

If Melanie kept talking in that sugary voice, Sam was going to punch her. Her night was bad enough without having to deal with cuteness, too. She let her emotions get the best of her once already; why stop it from happening again?

"Whatever," Sam sighed, reaching for her suitcase. "I'm out of here. Tell mom it was nice knowing her…kind of."

Melanie reached for Sam's arm before she could take more than two steps. Rolling her eyes, Sam faced her twin again. It was amazing how they could look so similar and act nothing alike.

"You're not going anywhere, Samantha," Melanie demanded. "Not until you tell me why you're running away!"

Sam could have put up a fight. Melanie was even less of a challenge to beat up than Freddie was - and that was saying something. Still, Melanie reminded Sam of Carly in a weird way (both of them were too nice) and Carly was the one person Sam refused to hurt. Thus, she didn't hurt Melanie, either. No matter how annoying she acted.

"Fine. If you want to know the real reason I'm leaving, it's because…" Sam took a deep breath. "I'm in love."

Melanie reacted exactly the way Sam thought she would: she squealed, drew Sam in for a hug, and chanted, "My sister's in love! My sister's in love!"

"If you don't let go of me in the next ten seconds, I'll force you to let go."

Knowing better than to push Sam, Melanie dropped her sister. Sam brushed off her outfit as though Melanie had left some kind of 'nice potion' on it with a simple hug. Samantha Puckett would never conform into a nice girl.

Smiling brightly, Melanie danced on the balls of her feet. Sam knew what her next question was going to be.

"So?" the other blonde prompted. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Sam admitted she was in love. She might as well tell Melanie the whole truth.

"It's Fredward," she said, trying to turn her back. "Can I leave now?"

Melanie grabbed Sam's shoulders, turning her until her torso faced the kitchen again. She shook Sam lightly, stopping only when she received a deadly glare.

"Freddie?" she asked in surprise. "Freddie Benson?"

"Do we know any other woman crazy enough to name their son Fredward?"

Clapping her hands in excitement, Melanie's smile faded within seconds. She looked at the suitcase, her brow furrowing.

"I don't get it," she said slowly. "If you're in love with Freddie, why are you running away?"

"Isn't it obvious?" When Melanie stared blankly, shaking her head, Sam answered her own question. "He doesn't love me back."

"Yes, he does!"

Now it was Sam's turn to feel confused.

"No, he doesn't," she said, speaking slowly and clearly. "I was with him earlier tonight and I - well, let's just say I know how he feels about me."

"But you can't know the truth!" Melanie protested. "Sam, listen to me. Freddie is in love with you!"

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is!"

"Did you fall out of a tree or something?"

"I - Why would I have been in a tree?"

Grabbing her twin by her shoulders, holding her there firmly, Sam made sure their identical eyes met before speaking again.

"Let me put this in a way you can understand," she said. "Freddie…Benson…Does…Not…Love…Me!"

"Yes, he does!"

Sam let go of Melanie, turning her eyes to the ceiling, silently asking a higher power why she got stuck with all the brains in the family. Melanie took Sam's silence as a chance to grab her hand, wheeling the stubborn blonde toward the living room.

"What are you doing?" Sam demanded as Melanie forced her to sit in front of the computer Pam Puckett had bought before either of her daughters turned three. "I have places to go, Melanie!"

"Your places will still be there later," Melanie protested, standing beside her twin (there was only chair) and leaning toward the computer's keyboard. "We have something more important to do right now."

"What's more important than making friends with hobos?" Sam asked, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Proving that Freddie Benson," Melanie replied, speaking slowly as she typed in a web address, "Really does love you!"

Sam watched as the iCarly website appeared on the computer's screen, showing her face, Carly's, Spencer's, and that of the nub in question. Melanie happily began scrolling through old videos. Sam folded her arms across her chest.

She had no idea what Melanie was playing at. She only visited one time every few years. How could she know whether or not Freddie was in love with anyone, much less if it was Sam? How was the iCarly website going to prove anything?

No matter what Melanie had up her sleeve, Sam sighed. It was going to be a long night.

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><p>To sum things up: Sam believes Freddie isn't in love with her, so she wants to run away from him. I hope that's not too out of character for her...I thought she might be one of those girls who tries to run away from her problems instead of facing them. Melanie, on the other hand, seems convinced Freddie IS in love with Sam. And she's determinded to prove it!<p>

Basically, this story will walk you through a couple of the biggest seddie moments in iCarly. Not every single episode - that would take way too long to write! But, you know, some of the bigger scenes between Sam and Freddie. It's my way to help prove seddie MIGHT happen in iOMG part 2.

What do you guys think? Do you like the story? Is it a stupid idea? Is it too out of character?

If you enjoyed reading and would like me to continue, please tell me YOUR favorite seddie moments so I can include them!

Oh, and one more thing: If you guys want me to continue, the story won't just be Sam and Melanie the whole way through. Freddie and Carly play important roles, too! Not until the last chapter or two, but of course they'll be in the flashbacks. So really all three iCarly stars will be in every chapter.

Review?


	2. iMeet Freddie

Sorry for the slow update! I planned to update sooner, but my mom was home from work for a week so I couldn't hide out in my room all day to write. I'll try to update more often now that she's back at work, ok?

OMG...Sixteen reviews? Who has the coolest readers in the WORLD? *raises hand and jumps up and down* Seriously, thanks so much for all the kind words, everyone! Since this is my first seddie fic, you have no idea how much your support means to me. Please, continue to review. Let me know if I wrote anyone out of character or if my grammer sucks or...you know. Anything you'd like to review about, I guess. JUST WRITE ONE!

Ok, now on to talking about this chapter:

I know in the very first episode of iCarly we see, Sam and Freddie have already met. And, obviously, they are already well into their game of hiding their feelings for each other under their hate. So, I was thinking to myself: Why did Sam and Freddie decide to spend all their time fighting? Did something happen during their first meeting that convinced them they had to hate each other? Well, we may never know the real answer (depends on if the iCarly creators ever make an episode flashbacking to the first time the iCarly gang met), but in the chapter you're about to read, Melanie shows Sam a secret tab on the website titled "iMeet Freddie". These are just my ideas what MAY have happened the first time Freddie Benson and Sam Puckett met. Sorry if they suck.

Regular typing like this is real-time with Sam and Melanie. _Typing like this is when you're diving into Sam's memories._ Everybody understand? Good!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except my little brain which can't stop wondering what might happen in iOMG part 2...

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><p><strong>iMeet Freddie<strong>

_12:45 AM_

Pam Puckett owned the slowest computer on the face of the planet. While any normal laptop could load a video on the iCarly website in minutes, Sam and Melanie were still waiting for their first one to begin playing. So far, all either blonde had seen was a big black box with the word LOADING flashing brightly across it.

"I'm so bored!" Sam complained, rocking her head from side to side. "Can I leave now?"

"Why would you want to leave?" Melanie questioned her twin. "You still don't believe Freddie loves you, do you?"

"No, but watching whatever video you clicked on isn't going to convince me of that. I've seen all these videos before, remember?"

"Yes, but you've never seen them from my perspective. If you want to know how Freddie really feels about you, you have to keep an open mind and-,"

"Will you make me a ham sandwich?"

Sam had to get her sister to stop talking somehow. She wouldn't shut up about Freddie. 'Freddie is in love with you, Sam!' 'We're going to watch every clip on the iCarly site if we have to!' 'You'll see what I'm talking about, Sam. Just wait until we look back to that time four years ago when you and Freddie first met compared to how he acts around you now!' It was nauseating to listen to.

Besides…Sam really was hungry.

Instead of agreeing to fix Sam a ham sandwich, Melanie put on her cutest smile. Sam groaned. Something bad was about to happen.

"While we wait for the video to finish," she suggested, bouncing in excitement, "Why don't we have a little sister-to-sister chat?"

"Why don't you have a sister-to-computer chat while I go find some food?"

This time, Sam didn't let Melanie stop her from heading into the kitchen. Melanie trailed behind (after making sure the computer's speakers were on so they would know if the video started). Sam was trying to remember where she'd last seen the bread when she heard the dumbest question ever asked:

"How did you and Freddie first meet?"

Pausing her search, Sam glanced in Melanie's general direction, refusing to make eye contact. "What?"

"You and Freddie. How did you meet each other?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

If Sam had never been thankful for her lying skills before, she was now. Turning her back on Melanie, she returned her attention to the cupboards, opening them with more force than needed.

"You were in sixth grade, weren't you?" Melanie pressed on, refusing to give up. "What did you think of him the first time you laid eyes on him? I bet you fell in love with him at first sight, didn't you? That's why you've been so mean to him all these years. You've been hiding your true feelings because Freddie's always claimed to be in love with your best friend! I'm right, aren't I?"

The loaf of bread was nowhere to be found. Maybe Pam had finished it off without letting Sam know. It wouldn't be the first time Sam's mom neglected to ask her daughter to stop by the store.

"Samantha? Are you even listening to me?"

Were there any stores open this late? Sam had some cash burning a hole in her pocket (a five dollar bill Freddie loaned her hours before their stupid kiss). That would be enough to buy something edible, wouldn't it? Plus, she could get away from Melanie for awhile and have some time by herself.

"You're ignoring me," Melanie stated the obvious. "Do you want to know why I think you're ignoring me? It's because you know I'm right. You did fall in love with Freddie the moment you-,"

"I did not fall in love with Freddie four years ago!" Sam cut off her sister. "If you want to know the truth, I hated him from the beginning."

"Why?" Melanie demanded. "What did that poor boy do to you?"

"He acted like a total nub!"

Melanie opened her mouth, ready to protest. Sam went on before her twin could say a word, jumping onto the kitchen counter. If she was telling the story, she was going to be comfortable while doing so.

"Look, I heard about Freddie before I actually met him. He was new at Bushwell and apparently he and his mom went to visit Carly and Spencer the day before he started at Ridgeway. Carly volunteered to show him around school." Sam shook her head at the memories. "She wanted me to tag along, partly because she wanted the dork to meet new people but mostly because he creeped her out. She told me about his huge crush on her, which I planned on teasing him about before I knew anything about the stupid stripes…"

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><p>"<em>Why do I have to meet him?" Sam griped as Carly led her through the hallway, each step bringing them closer to the AV lounge. "I have enough friends!"<em>

_Carly finally stopped, turning to face her best friend. The two sixth grade girls were supposed to be in the cafeteria, enjoying their lunch hour, but apparently Carly had promised to show the new kid in school around all day, which included sitting by him during lunch so he wouldn't appear friendless. Sam offered to go ahead and pick out a table for the three of them, but Carly thought it was a better idea if Sam tagged along and helped with the tour. That way, she could keep an eye on the blonde and make sure she didn't get into trouble for the five minutes they would be apart._

"_You have enough friends?" Carly repeated, waiting for Sam to nod before pressing the issue. "Sam…I'm the only friend you have! Everyone else is too afraid to approach you because you always end up hurting them!"_

"_It's not my fault people find me aggressive!" Sam protested._

_Rolling her eyes, Carly decided to try one last time to convince Sam that meeting the newest boy at Bushwell would actually be good for her. _

"_Look, I'm not saying you have to be best friends with him," she started, "But can you at least give him a chance? He's really nice and sweet and-,"_

"_Alright, alright," Sam interrupted, stepping around the dark haired girl, heading nearer to the AV lounge on her own accord. "Let's just get this meet-and-greet over with. Mama's feeling hungry!"_

_By the time the girls reached their destination, Carly had talked Sam into smiling ("He doesn't know anything about you yet. Maybe you can actually be nice around him!"). Her teeth showing in an obviously fake grin, Sam pushed open the door to the AV lounge, the room Carly told the newcomer she'd be meeting him in-_

_-And as quickly as her smile appeared, it faded as Sam's lips shifted into a frown. This was the boy Carly found nice and sweet? A different word crossed Sam's mind to describe him, and in her eyes, it fit better than anything else: Dork._

_He was short, even for a middle school student, and his brown hair stuck up in the front. His face was hidden behind a computer, which he was typing on frantically, his fingers flying across the keyboard in a manner only someone who spent too much time online and not out with actual people would be able to attempt. Then, there was the worst thing about him: He was wearing a shirt covered in red and blue stripes._

'_Stripes…' Sam thought to herself, wrinkling her nose in disgust. 'I hate stripes. They don't look bad on him though…'_

_If the new boy heard the door open, and Sam doubted he could over the clicking of the computer's keys, he didn't show any signs of wanting to greet Carly and Sam. The latter turned around, wanting to leave while she still had the chance, but Carly, who was expecting Sam to run, grabbed her shoulders before she could complete her turn. She was trapped._

"_Get over there and introduce yourself!" Carly whispered, pushing Sam further into the room._

"_I'd rather sneak up behind him, hit his head against the computer, and leave before I get detention," Sam argued, easily digging her heels into the carpet, preventing Carly from moving her. "Can I do that instead?"_

"_Sam."_

"_What if I introduce myself first, then I hit his head on the computer?"_

"_Sam!"_

_One of the bad things about being best friends with Carly Shay (or maybe it was a good thing. Sam hadn't made up her mind yet) was that Carly wouldn't put up with Sam's quirks. Before the day Sam tried to steal Carly's lunch just to have the other girl retaliate, Sam found life simple. In order to get what she wanted, she forced people to do things. According to Carly, there were better, more civilized ways to get what she wanted. _

_Sighing, knowing from experience Carly wasn't going to leave her alone until Sam completed her task, the blonde preteen approached the computer nerd. She stayed behind him - it would have been so easy to place her hand on the back of his neck and force his face into the desktop's screen - but she glanced over her shoulder at Carly instead of allowing her fingers to do as they desired. Still standing by the door in case Sam tried to leave, Carly nodded vigorously, encouraging her friend. _

_Using every ounce of niceness she could muster, Sam pasted a smile on her face, flipped a strand of curls behind her, and tapped the striped boy on his shoulder._

_Everything that took place in the following thirty seconds would be what Sam would later refer to as the moment she and Freddie began playing their Game. He jumped from his seat, spun to face Sam, and kept two fists in front of him, trying to look threatening. Sam stood her ground, watching Freddie with raised eyebrows, wondering exactly what he planned to do to her since he didn't have the muscles (or another body part she wasn't comfortable uttering at that point in her life) to do any real harm. _

"_Hey." Sam waved, making sure her hand was seeable through Freddie's defensive pose. "I'm Sam."_

"_Oh," Freddie replied, lowering his fists. "I thought you were…"_

_His voice trailed off, leaving Sam the perfect opportunity to finish his sentence. How could she resist?_

"_You thought I was what? Somebody who wanted to attack you? Right here, on a nice sunny afternoon in the middle of the school day?" _

_She could tell by the way Freddie refused to answer her that her words were spot-on. Whatever school he'd gone to before Ridgeway, Sam knew for a fact Freddie had gotten beat up there. Yep…she must have been right when she assumed he was a dork._

"_You know," Sam said, a smirk covering her lips, "If I really had been trying to attack you, you wouldn't have been able to fight me off like that. I could teach you how to defend yourself if you wanted me to."_

_Freddie knew nothing about Samantha Puckett. He just saw a nice looking girl who was willing to teach him how to fight. How was he supposed to know her lesson would include her leaping on his back, shouting orders like, "Quick! Try to get me down before I choke you!" and "Is that all you got? You're weaker than you look!" No matter how much he struggled beneath her, she refused to loosen her grip, pinning him between her knees, pressing her flat stomach against him, and digging her elbows into his shoulder blades. _

_Carly was the one who finally coaxed Sam off of Freddie. By the time Carly held her best friend at her side, keeping a firm grip in order to ensure Sam wouldn't attack again, Freddie found his body sprawled across the floor. He scrambled up once he realized he was safe, stepped back until there were several feet between him and Sam, and then, after making sure he was out of Sam's range, he decided to speak._

"_What was that for?" he demanded._

"_You said you wanted me to teach you how to defend yourself!" Sam reminded him, turning to Carly. "He begged me to do that to him!"_

"_No, I didn't!" Freddie's mouth fell open in disbelief. "I never begged you to attack me!"_

"_Well, how do you expect to learn how to defend yourself if I can't do something that would make you defend yourself?" _

"_What kind of a person just jumps on someone like that?"_

"_A person who's trying to help someone!"_

_Thus, the first fight broke out while a helpless Carly stood by, pleading with her friends to shut up. The relationship seemed doomed from the very beginning. Not one of them believed they would ever become the hosts of a live web show they would film together once a week. Freddie thought he would continue loving Carly, dealing with Sam only when he needed to. Sam thought she would do her best to show up whenever Freddie came to visit Carly so she could torture him. Carly thought she would forever be stuck between Sam and Freddie._

_It was amazing how wrong all three of them became._

* * *

><p>Melanie's jaw dropped.<p>

"You pounced on him?" she repeated, as though she wanted to make sure she'd heard Sam correctly. "Why would you do that?"

"I was teaching him self defense."

"I really think there are better ways to teach self defense than to-,"

Her rebuttal was cut off when a new voice filled the room. The two sisters stared at each other for several moments - they'd both been caught up in Sam's story - before remembering their computer. Together, they sprinted from the kitchen, Sam pushing anything and everything out of her way as she went.

The video, much to Sam's surprise, wasn't one she remembered filming. She and Freddie made a lot of the iCarly segments on their own (Carly was only on the live broadcasts) and usually Sam had a pretty good memory when it came to skits she'd acted in. However, she didn't recognize the younger version of herself covering the computer's screen.

"What's that chizz?" she asked curiously.

"It's a special clip," Melanie explained proudly. "It's under a tab called iMeet Freddie. It looks like someone captured the moment you and Freddie met on camera."

There was something off about the video. For one thing, Carly was nowhere to be seen. She had been there the first time Sam saw Freddie. The dialog was wrong, Sam didn't attack Freddie, and the AV lounge had turned into a classroom.

Sam smirked as her brain finally clicked. The clip playing before her eyes wasn't her and Freddie's first meeting. It took place three weeks later, in a class Sam and Freddie had together without Carly. Actually, if Sam remembered right, the clip Melanie found was recorded by Jonah (the same boy Sam would later date) after he got stuck working with Sam and Freddie on a project…

* * *

><p><em>English was the most boring class in the history of classes. Who wanted to sit around and read books written by dead guys when they could be doing something worthwhile? Not only that, but Sam wondered if the authors never learned to speak proper English themselves. Shouldn't they have made their stories easier to understand instead of throwing in words no one used?<em>

_To make matters worse, Sam's teacher had this strange seating order where she put two students at every table, sorted by last names. In a normal world, 'Puckett' wouldn't be anywhere near 'Benson', but this certain teacher didn't live in a normal world. She switched things up so one kid would have a last name from the beginning of the alphabet while the other was from the end. For example, Alister sat by Zeno, Abtence was next to Yolki, and, somehow, Benson ended up with Puckett._

_Freddie tried to be mature about the seating arrangement. The first time he was told to take turns reading aloud with his tablemate, he turned to Sam, prepared to read first if she didn't want to._

_Her response was to lean back in her chair, use their table as her footstool, slam her book shut, and fold her hands behind her head._

"_What are you waiting for?" she asked when Freddie stared. "Read!"_

"_We're both supposed to read it," Freddie explained. When Sam didn't move, he added, "Together."_

"_I'm supposed to do a lot of things," Sam replied, shrugging. "Doesn't mean they all get done."_

"_Come on, Sam. If we don't get this chapter finished now, we'll have to do it as home-,"_

_Before he could get out the last part of his sentence, Freddie was forced to cry out in pain. Sam had taken her pencil, which she'd sharpened only a few minutes earlier, and stuck it in his hand as deep as she could. Needless to say, Freddie read the entire assignment out-loud while Sam listened, smirking the entire time. _

_A few days after the partner reading session, after every student was supposed to have finished the whole book, the teacher decided to pair everyone up for the book's final project. For some reason, she thought Freddie and Sam would make a great team and added Jonah to the mix as well, hoping he might be able to raise his grade. The boys discussed what they wanted to do for their project; Sam folded her arms over her chest, falling asleep seconds later._

_Freddie and Jonah decided it would be fun to film one of the scenes from the story and make a short movie out of it. When they told Sam about their idea, she wished them luck, trying to make her great escape-_

"_Not so fast!" Freddie told her, grabbing the blonde's arm. "If you want credit for this assignment, you have to help us."_

"_Can't you figure out how to make the movie on your own?" Sam whined. "You're the computer geeks, not me."_

"_We don't need your help with that part," Jonah replied. "We just need you to be our actress."_

_Sam agreed to help out with the selected scene. She might not have been the greatest student, but she knew if her teacher found out she didn't help out with the project even the tiniest bit, she would probably fail the class. How hard could it be to present the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet anyway, right?_

_When Freddie played the role of Romeo and Sam was Juliet, apparently the scene was nearly impossible to create._

_Tensions ran high on the day the three students chose to film their movie. Jonah stayed behind the camera, begging Freddie to be Romeo. Sam stood on her balcony (really just a desk she stole from the English classroom), deliberately messing up her lines. Every time she was supposed to say something the same way the love-sick Juliet would have said it, she would look at her Romeo and burst out laughing. Even pretending to be in love with him was too funny!_

"_That's it!" Freddie cried out an hour into their practice. Sam had thrown a piece of fried chicken at his face (although no one had any idea how she'd gotten a bucket of fried chicken in the first place). "Let's take a break."_

"_Where are you going?" Sam called to his retreating back as Freddie turned to leave the room. "Maybe you should go find Carly. I bet she would love to be your Juliet!"_

_That was all it took to bring Freddie back. He stomped his way to Sam, took her wrist in his hand, and pulled her from her 'balcony'. Normally Sam would punch him for touching her like that, but she wasn't expecting him to actually drag her to the ground. She stared at the computer geek in surprise as he poked his finger into her chest._

"_Is that the real reason you've been acting like a monster today?" he demanded. "Are you jealous about my relationship with Carly?"_

"_What relationship with Carly?" Sam asked, unable to hide her laughter. _

"_I love her!"_

"_She doesn't love you!"_

_Unbeknownst to the feuding couple, Jonah recorded their argument, the camera flying from one face to the other._

"_She might love me someday!" Freddie protested. _

"_No, she won't!" Sam stepped closer to Freddie so she could pound her knuckle against his skull. "When are you going to get it through your head that Carly will never like you that way?"_

"_You don't know that!" Despite his words, Freddie's voice came out nervously. "Why does it matter to you if I love Carly anyway?"_

"_It doesn't matter to me. I'm not having a problem acting like Juliet because of that! My only problem is the fact that I'm stuck with you as my Romeo!"_

"_You know, maybe if you were a little nicer to people instead of insulting them all the time, some guy might fall in love with you, too!"_

_Sam had a simple response to that: she slapped Freddie's cheek with a slab of fried chicken._

_Years down the road, after iCarly was made and had been running strong for awhile, Jonah came clean about still having the Romeo and Juliet movie from sixth grade. Not the one they ended up handing in for a grade - which had Jonah playing Romeo and Freddie as Juliet while Sam hid behind the camera - but the short clip of Sam and Freddie. Freddie asked for a copy he could upload on the iCarly website._

"_Why would you want that on the internet?" Carly asked after watching the clip. "It's just the two of you fighting!"_

"_I know," Freddie replied, his eyes on Sam instead of the person who had asked the question. "I think our audience will enjoy it though. It will show them Sam was just as vicious when I first met her as she is now."_

_And for some reason, his answer brought a smile to Sam's lips._

* * *

><p>The video wasn't finished before Sam left the computer, heading toward the front door. Melanie followed on her heels.<p>

"Where are you going?" she asked desperately. "We've only seen one clip. I haven't proved anything to you yet!"

"I don't know," Sam replied honestly. "I just really want a bucket of fried chicken."

* * *

><p>What did you think? Could you guys see Sam and Freddie acting like that back in sixth grade or is the picture in my head totally wrong? Let me know in a review?<p>

Just so you know, the rest of the chapters will deal with actual episodes instead of before iCarly started. Thank you so much to ALL of you who suggested episodes and told me about your favorite seddie moments! Honestly, I was surprised no one said anything about iHeart Art (that's my favorite seddie episode actually). A HUGE shout-out goes to Kiganchee who gave me more favorite moments than anyone else! I'm planning on using all of them...AND any others that you guys suggest as I write this story!

So...With one episode per chapter, this story will probably be about eight chapters long? And then one final chapter after that to tie up all loose ends? Does that sound good or too long?

Thank you so much for the reviews, please keep leaving them, suggest more seddie moments you'd like to see, let me know what you thought of this chapter...

Chapter Two will be: iLike Jake!


	3. iFind Fried Chicken Haven

Thank you so much for all the kind reviews! I really do love reading them. Your reviews are what keep me writing!

Sorry once again for the slow update. I know this is a long chapter...Let me know if it's too long, ok? I don't want to write chapters that are too long and too boring to hold your attention. I'd rather have you guys enjoy reading it than have you get tired halfway through an update and decide to drop the story altogether. So please, if you review, let me know if the length needs to be shorter next time.

When this chapter begins, you'll dive right into one of Sam's memories. This memory actually took place shortly before iOMG. In iKiss, Carly and Sam are said to be ninth grade girls. If they were in ninth grade during season two, they would be juniors in iOMG, which means they are old enough to at least take Driver's Ed. So Sam's memory is my take on how the iCarly gang might have decided to go about their driver's training.

I think that's all you need to know...

Oh yeah, the episode used for this chaper is: iLike Jake.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>iFind Fried Chicken Haven<strong>

_Freddie, Carly, and Sam decided to take driver's education together. With their birthdays falling in different months, they could have learned to drive separately, but Carly and Freddie agreed it would be more fun to share the experience. Sam went along with their idea because - well, because she was Sam and cared more about finding free food in the Shay's kitchen than learning how to operate a vehicle. _

_The classroom was filled with teenagers eager to begin driving when Carly and Freddie arrived on the first day of class. Sam promised to meet them in time for the lesson. Since Freddie and Carly were early, they weren't worried about Sam. She would show up. She still had ten minutes and she wasn't known for being prompt._

_Five minutes went by. Freddie reassured a nervous Carly that Sam would arrive soon. _

_Three more minutes passed. Carly and Freddie sat in the second to last row of desks, making sure no one sat directly behind Freddie. They knew their best friend would not want to sit anywhere close to the front ("I hate being so close to the teacher," she told them once. "I feel like they're stalking me every time they pass by, checking to make sure I'm taking notes instead of passing them."). No, their blonde companion felt more comfortable as far from the teacher as she could be - if she decided to show up at all._

_One minute left until class began. The teacher was nowhere to be seen and the students continued talking among themselves, excitedly asking each other what they thought it would be like to drive for the first time. Carly drummed her fingers against her knee, her eyes watching the clock as it ticked away Sam's final seconds._

"_Should we leave?" she wondered aloud, her tapping growing louder. "It doesn't look like Sam's coming…"_

"_We're not leaving," Freddie said firmly. "We both already paid a down payment we can't get back. It would be stupid to drop out now."_

"_But we promised we'd do this together, all three of us-,"_

"_Sam will be here."_

_Right on cue, the classroom door flew open. Many students straightened in their seats, thinking their teacher was finally there. They slouched again upon realizing it was only Samantha Puckett._

"_Where have you been?" Carly demanded as Sam, spotting her friends right away, made her way toward the desk they saved especially for her. "Freddie was worried you weren't coming!"_

_Sam's left eyebrow raised high above the right one when Freddie turned to face her. He shook his head quickly, his index finger pointed at Carly._

"_She was the one who thought you were playing hooky, not me!" he exclaimed. "I didn't care whether you showed up or not!"_

"_Aww!" Sam cooed in that fake voice she used almost every time she said something to Freddie. "Was little Fredward worried about me?"_

"_I never said I was-,"_

_Freddie stopped talking after Sam took her attention from him, showing she'd lost interest in the conversation. One by one, she brought items to rest atop her desk. First, an empty bowl. Then a carton of milk. The milk was followed by a large zip-lock bag, which held, if Freddie guessed correctly, some sort of breakfast cereal. Smiling to herself, Sam poured the cereal into the bowl, added the milk, and finally, pulled a spoon from her sleeve._

"_You brought your breakfast with you?" Carly asked. "Why didn't you eat at your house?"_

"_Two reasons," Sam replied, narrowly missing Freddie's face as little pieces of chewed cereal spewed from her mouth. "One: My alarm clock didn't go off this morning, so all I had time to do was jump out of bed and run here as fast as my feet could carry me. Two: Mama likes having her breakfast on the go."_

"_Well, 'Mama' better hurry up!" Freddie scolded. "Class could start at any moment and I don't want your food ending up in my backpack again!"_

_Leaning forward, being careful of her bowl so she didn't accidentally push it to the floor, Sam studied the back of Freddie's chair. There was no stopping the huge grin that appeared on her face._

"_Who brings a backpack to Driver's Ed?" _

"_People who don't want their arms getting sore from carrying their books, pencils, pens-,"_

"_Do you plan on fitting an entire car in there, too?" Sam reached out, gently running her fingers along the material of Freddie's backpack. "I think you might need a bigger model if that's your plan."_

"_Very funny, Puckett."_

"_Who said I was kidding, Benson?"_

"_At least I didn't show up in my pajamas!" _

"_It just so happens that these pajamas are more comfortable than-,"_

"_Shut up!" Carly hissed, putting an end to the fight. "The teacher just walked in!"_

_Freddie turned his back to Sam, forgetting about his two best friends in favor of the notebook sitting before him, opened to a fresh page. He never saw Sam pick up her breakfast bowl, bend over so she could place it under her desk, and, moments before letting it touch the carpet, change her mind. She poured everything - first tipping the dish upside down so the contents fell out, then dropping the bowl as well - into Freddie's backpack._

_An hour passed. White liquid dripped from Freddie's bag and Sam had to fight to control her laughter. When she was finally dismissed, she climbed to her feet, bid farewell to Carly and Freddie, and left before either of them could question her. It wasn't until Freddie reached behind him to put his notebook away that he realized why Sam was in such a hurry._

"_She put her breakfast in your backpack again, didn't she?" Carly asked._

"_Ocho," Freddie replied dryly, nodding his head._

_Almost a month after the breakfast incident, Freddie sat in front of his computer, working on the iCarly website. He jumped in surprise when his cell phone rang. Who would be calling him so early on a Saturday morning? Carly liked to sleep in on the weekends and Sam - who knew what her schedule was? Freddie didn't know of any other person who woke up at six AM when they didn't have school to get ready for._

_The bagel he was eating caught in his throat when Freddie read the name flashing across his phone's screen. It was a name he'd never seen there before, except for the few times they'd texted him. _

_He swallowed - hard. Why was Samantha Puckett calling him?_

"_Hello?" he said after hitting the button that would allow Sam to hear him. Then, hearing how high his voice sounded, he tried again. "I-I mean hello?"_

"_Aw, man! I was hoping to get your voicemail!"_

_Freddie felt even more confused than he'd been when Sam's name first popped up on his phone. Why did she pick today to call him for the first time? And why would she want to leave a message instead of actually talking to him?_

"_Sam? Is everything…okay?"_

"_Everything's fine, Frederly," Sam sighed. She sounded…was annoyed the right word? "Do you always wake up this early on Saturday? I figured you'd still be asleep right now and your phone would be off. That would have made this conversation a lot less awkward…"_

_So Sam was just as nervous as Freddie was to be talking on the phone. That was good news. For a second, he thought he was the only one feeling any tension._

"_I'm awake and my phone is definitely on," Freddie stated the obvious. He paused, giving Sam the chance to speak up. She didn't. "So…Is there any certain reason you're calling?"_

_Another pause. Then, a deep breath-_

"_I need to ask you for a favor."_

_Freddie held the phone away from his ear, pinched his arm to make sure he really was awake, and then reached for a Q-tip, wondering if his ears were so dirty he'd heard Sam wrong. Samantha Puckett, asking him, Freddie Benson, for a favor? Was the world about to end?_

"_I know what you're thinking," Sam said before Freddie could say anything, "And if you like living, I wouldn't advise you to tell anyone I came to you for help, got it?"_

"_What's the favor?" Freddie asked, ignoring her threat. He was used to them._

"_You know how we have that test coming up next week? The one where we go for a drive one-on-one with the instructor and we have to pass in order to get our driving permit?" She pressed on quickly. "The truth is…I'm not too great at driving."_

_Of course Freddie already knew all about Sam's driving skills - or lack thereof. He, Carly, and Sam were in the same group, which meant it was always the three of them in the car together on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Two of them sat in the backseat, where they were supposed to observe whoever was driving and the notes the coach gave them, learning from each other's mistakes. _

_Carly was a pretty good driver. She had her quirks, but she was just learning and seemed to have the main ideas perfected. Freddie considered himself okay at driving - he would be the first to admit he wasn't the greatest, although he wasn't the worst, either. Sam, on the other hand…_

_Sam enjoyed riding more than driving, especially when Freddie was the one seated beside her. She ignored the paper she was supposed to take notes on, instead poking Freddie with her finger or sticking her pen in his ear. Even when Carly replaced Freddie, she still found a way to avoid doing her work. She called out insults to the nub while he drove and cried out false alarms every chance she got, claiming she really did see a deer about to cross the street. _

_However, when Sam took her turn behind the steering wheel…Let's just say Freddie was thankful he still had air in his lungs._

"_What do you want me to do?" Freddie asked, unsure what Sam's answer would be. "If you want me to pretend to be you on the final drive, I won't do it! I'm not going to put on a blonde wig and-,"_

"_I'm not asking you to take my place!" Sam cut him off. "I am asking you to practice driving with me though."_

_It was Freddie's turn to fall silent._

"_You want me to take you out driving?" he repeated slowly._

"_No, I want you to jump up on the nearest table, rip off your shirt, and dance around," Sam replied sarcastically. "Yes, I want you to take me out driving. Don't make me ask again."_

"_Why ask me? You and Carly are best friends, I'm sure she'd be happy to-,"_

"_I can't concentrate on my driving when Carly's with me," Sam interrupted. "She wants everything done her way and if I mess even the tiniest thing up, she gets upset, then I start yelling at her, and she yells back, and…it's not a pretty sight."_

"_What about Spencer? He knows how to drive, doesn't he?"_

"_Yeah, but he doesn't know how to teach someone else to drive. He thinks it should just come naturally. Anyone who needs a little bit of extra work-,"_

"_Like you?"_

"_Watch it, Benson!"_

_Freddie was running out of names to suggest. He wanted Sam to pass her test so she could get her permit, but he didn't feel comfortable being the only person in a car with her, even if it was only in a parking lot (the only legal location he and Sam could practice at since neither of them could legally drive down the road yet). _

"_Can't you get your mom to take you?" he tried._

"_Nah, she's dating another lawyer. She doesn't have time for me."_

"_Well, what if I loan you my mom? I'm sure she'd be happy to help you."_

"_Help me go crazy," Sam muttered, chuckling to herself. "So, what do you think? Are you going to take me out or not, Fredward?"_

_Freddie wanted to say no. He knew taking Sam out driving was just asking for trouble. However, he hated to watch her re-take Driver's Ed when he knew he could help her pass the first time around._

"_Fine," he gave in. "But we're using your car, not mine! And we're staying in a parking lot the whole time. I'm not letting you drive illegally!"_

"_When did you become my wife?" Sam sighed. _

_Twenty minutes later, Freddie arrived at the empty parking lot just down the street from Bushwell. It was easily within walking distance for him, which was one of the reasons Freddie didn't complain when Sam suggested meeting there instead of at Bushwell. Even though the apartment complex had a huge parking area, Carly would be suspicious if she woke up, texted one of her two best friends, then found them together. The farther they stayed from her, the less chance she had of finding out what Sam and Freddie were really up to._

_To his surprise, Sam was already there when Freddie came to their designated spot. She sat on the hood of a car Freddie recognized right away as the one belonging to Pam Puckett. It wouldn't be his first time riding in the car-_

_-Although it would be the first time he'd do so when Sam was driving._

"_Where's your mom?" he questioned, glancing around the deserted scenery. "Did she leave after dropping you and the car off?"_

"_She was never here to begin with," Sam replied._

"_Then how did you get the car-,"_

"_Are we going to do this thing or not?"_

_Sometimes (most of the time, actually), it was better to not know how Sam did something. That way, if the police ever knocked on Freddie's door, he could honestly tell them he had no idea whatsoever how Sam completed whatever task she was being arrested for._

_Teaching Sam to drive was like trying to convince a dog it wasn't supposed to chase after a cat: impossible and very, very loud. Just as a dog would bark, tugging on its leash in order to get to the feline, Sam yelled at Freddie every time something went wrong. If she hit one of the invisible people Freddie kept screaming at her to stop for, it was his fault for not giving her enough warning. When she tried parking between two yellow lines and found the car sitting on one of the lines instead, it was Freddie's fault for telling her to turn too soon. Once, when Freddie asked Sam to practice her parallel parking, Sam ended up driving half of the car onto the sidewalk._

"_This is stupid," Sam stated before an hour had gone by. "I can't learn how to drive here. I need to be out on the road where the real chiz happens!" _

_She turned her eyes to Freddie, smiling that all too familiar smile._

"_No!" the tech producer exclaimed, knowing exactly what the blonde was thinking. "No, no, no, no, no! That's illegal and dangerous and we'll both get in trouble if we get caught! Read my lips, Puckett: No chizzing way!"_

_He should have known Sam would ignore him and start heading toward the parking lot's edge. He should have known she would lock the door before he could make his great escape. He should have known she'd had this trip planned for awhile and knew exactly where she wanted to drive._

_Sam took Freddie to a restaurant an hour away from their homes. It was called Fried Chicken Haven._

* * *

><p>1:52 AM<p>

Fried Chicken Haven was the best restaurant in Seattle - maybe even in the entire world. It was a buffet, which meant Sam could eat as much as she wanted for only five dollars. Every food offered was some kind of meat: fried chicken, BBQ chicken, chicken wings, steak, ham, meatballs…It was like she'd stepped out of reality and into one of her dreams, only in this dream, she could actually taste the delicious meat as it slid down her throat.

Melanie, who sat across the table from Sam, didn't seem quite so happy about their current location. She kept glancing around the room (which, Sam had to admit, was full of crazy people. It was nearly impossible to find someone who wasn't drunk at this time of night). She refused to buy any food, claiming she wasn't hungry, and when Sam offered to sneak her a plate while the waiter wasn't looking, Melanie declined.

"Are you sure that food is even sanitary?" she asked, leaning across the table and lowering her voice. "I thought I heard a pig a few minutes ago. I think they kill the animals right here in their own kitchen!"

"How else do you expect them to have the freshest meat?" Sam shot back.

Sam never asked Melanie to follow her out the front door of their house, onto the first bus that pulled up, or to get off behind her an hour later. Sam was the one who wanted fried chicken. Melanie had every right to stay home and wait for Sam to return after getting some food. It was her own fault for deciding to be a tag-along.

Truthfully, Sam was kind of happy her sister had come with her. She loved watching the horrified expression on Melanie's face when they first entered the establishment. In her eyes, Melanie deserved to be tortured. After all, she was doing the same thing to Sam with all her talk about Freddie. Why should one sister suffer without the other joining in?

"So," Melanie said, pasting a fake smile on her lips. "Have you eaten here before?"

"I don't know," Sam replied causally, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe once or twice. It's hard to remember. I eat a lot of fried chicken."

"I find it hard to believe you could forget eating at a place like this," Melanie muttered, hugging her purse tight to her chest when a heavy-set man passed by. "Surely you remember how you found out about it to begin with."

"I was doing an online search for places in Seattle that sold good, quality meat," Sam explained. "I wanted to test this place out, but I didn't want to come alone just in case their food gave me food poisoning or something, so Freddie and I-,"

"Ohhhh, I get why you wanted to come here tonight," Melanie cooed, winking at Sam. "You associate it with Freddie."

Oh, no. Sam said Freddie's name without thinking about it. Melanie hadn't said a word about the nub since leaving their house and now, thanks to Sam and her big mouth, the topic was open for discussion again.

"Can we not talk about Freddork while I'm trying to eat?" Sam requested. "I'd rather enjoy my meal than lose it all in the nearest toilet."

"We're talking about Freddie until you're convinced he's in love with you," Melanie stated firmly.

"As much as I would love to prove you wrong about more iCarly clips, you don't have a computer right now, so-,"

With a smirk almost devious enough to match Sam's, Melanie pulled a cell phone from her purse, waving it in her twin's face triumphantly.

"No way…You have a cell phone?" Sam cried in shock, reaching to take the device from Melanie's fingers. "Have we made it to the twenty-first century already?"

"Very funny," Melanie said, taking the phone back when Sam brought it to her ear, pretending she had no idea how to make a phone call. "This phone just happens to have internet on it. What do you say we watch one of iCarly's oldest videos?"

"I say we should watch a video of the world's fattest priest instead," Sam suggested.

Melanie ignored her sister, loading the webpage she wanted and not the one Sam advised. Sam turned back to her plate while waiting for the clip to play (Melanie's phone was much faster than the Puckett's computer). She stopped, her fork halfway to her mouth, when a song she recognized began playing.

"Is that Jake?" she asked, unable to stop herself from smiling as she leaned toward Melanie, wanting to hear the music better. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe that web cast is still on the site! We filmed that shortly after iCarly started!"

"I know," Melanie agreed, sliding her chair closer to Sam's and holding her phone so they could both watch the video. "He sounds great, doesn't he?"

"Only because Benson fixed Jake's voice on the computer. Jake was hot, but his singing voice was pretty suckish."

"Oh? Were you the only one who didn't like Jake's voice?"

Her eyes trained on the phone, Sam failed to notice the change in Melanie's tone.

"No one liked his real voice!" she explained. "Carly was so in love with Jake, she wanted to let him perform on the show anyway. I'm so glad she convinced Freddie to fix it. Can you imagine how many viewers we would have lost if we used the real footage?"

"Carly had to convince Freddie to change the voice?" Melanie repeated. "Why didn't he want to change it in the first place? Did he like Jake's singing?"

"Even Freddie isn't stupid enough to like something that terrible," Sam scoffed. She rolled her eyes. "He just wanted to use Jake's real voice because he was jealous. Back then, Jake was the hottest and coolest guy in school. Fredlumps hated the fact that every girl in school liked Jake. He especially hated how much Carly liked Jake."

"Are you sure Carly was the girl he was really jealous of?"

"What other girl would he have been-,"

Sam stopped herself, finally tearing her eyes from Jake's performance. Melanie smiled at her in that cutesy way, batting her eyes innocently.

"Oh, come on!" Sam groaned, tossing her head back in annoyance. "You're not honestly trying to tell me Freddie liked me way back then, are you? He was so in love with Carly, he wouldn't even look at another girl!"

"He was so young though!" Melanie protested. "What if he only thought he was in love with Carly when he was really beginning to fall for you? Did you read his blog after the Jake web cast?" Without waiting for an answer, Melanie typed something on her phone, looking for the proof she needed. "See, it says right here: 'He's the worst singer ever! Even Sam thinks so. I think that's the first time Sam and I have ever agreed on anything!' He was ecstatic you agreed with him!"

"Just because we agreed about one thing means he liked me?" Sam asked slowly, wanting to make sure she understood Melanie's logic.

"Yes! That's exactly what it means!"

Pushing her plate aside (even though it was still stacked high with various meats), Sam climbed to her feet, leaving the table behind as she headed toward Fried Chicken Haven's door. She heard Melanie scrambling, her feet gliding across the floor as fast as her heels would carry her in an effort to catch up.

"Now where are you going?" Melanie demanded, following Sam outside the restaurant and into the breezy night.

"I told you you'd ruin my appetite if you talked about Freddie," Sam replied. "There's no point in staying here if neither of us are eating."

The Puckett sisters found themselves seated on another bus, making the hour long trip to their house. Melanie texted Pam, letting her know they would be home soon ("I don't want her to worry if she gets home before us and realizes we're not there," she explained when Sam gave her a questioning stare. Sam had a feeling Pam wouldn't be home yet and even if she was, the last thing on her mind would be the location of her daughters). When she put her phone away, Melanie tried making conversation with Sam, but the rough blonde rested her head against the window, feigning sleep. She didn't want to talk about Fredward Benson, the King of the Nerds; she was too busy thinking about him.

Yes, Sam had thought about Fried Chicken Haven tonight because of everything that happened between her and Freddie. Whatever she had done by kissing him, whether it tore their friendship apart or took their relationship to a level Sam wasn't sure she was ready for, it was a big step for her to do something so…out of character. She did daring stuff all the time - she was the only girl she knew brave enough to take any challenge thrown her way, no matter the consequence - but to actually kiss the boy she'd fallen in love with? All she really wanted to do was beat someone up, but Freddie, her usual punching bag, was the one person she wanted to stay away from. She needed some other outlet to get rid of her energy, the charge she felt after allowing herself to be so open with her feelings. She was Sam Puckett. Her emotions were supposed to be protected, never leaving her inner shell. Why had she let the walls crumble for some stupid dork who slept in Galaxy Wars pajamas?

Fried Chicken Haven was her and Freddie's special place. He only came with her the first time because she locked the doors, refusing to let him out of the vehicle, but after watching Sam's driving skills suffer without an instructor to tell her what to do, he slowly went from Angry Freddie to Teacher Freddie. He told Sam exactly where to put her hands on the steering wheel to keep the car in her lane. He coached her through her turns, explaining how to do it gently instead of throwing everyone riding with her forward in their seats. By the time they reached the restaurant, Sam even knew how to brake correctly and step on the gas lightly when it was time to go again instead of flooring it.

As Sam enjoyed the buffet, Freddie studied the room in a matter similar to Melanie's. Of course he was nervous about being there - he had just allowed Sam to drive illegally for an entire hour! What if a cop came in, saw the two of them leave together, and followed them out, wanting to know who was driving them since clearly they were too young to have licenses. Could Sam finally have done something bad enough to get not only herself but Freddie too thrown into juvie?

"Relax," Sam told him, throwing a slab of meat that would have hit Freddie's head if he ducked a second later. "We're not going to get caught. I'm the master at not getting caught, remember?"

"Oh really?" Freddie shot back. "What happens if you break a traffic law on the way home and we get pulled over? What are you going to tell the police?"

"I'm going to tell them the truth," Sam replied, pretending she couldn't see him as the nub shook his head. "I'll tell them I left my license at home."

"They would never believe that!"

"I think I've had more experience with the cops than you. I know what they will or won't believe."

Freddie dropped it, returning to his old habit of staring at the door, waiting for some kind of policeman to enter and arrest him. Shaking her head, Sam turned back to her meal - until she caught her tablemate staring at her.

"What?" she asked, shuffling the food around in her mouth until she was able to speak.

"I've never seen a girl who could eat as much as you."

"You know what I've never seen?"

Thinking Sam was going to say something important, Freddie leaned closer to her. "What?"

"A nub accidentally fall out of his chair."

"Why would a nub accidentally-,"

His sentence ended when Sam, using only one hand, pushed her friend to the floor. He groaned when he hit the hard flooring - which brought a smirk to Sam's face - but was actually smiling when he crawled back into his chair.

"You smell like ham," he stated happily.

"If you're close enough to figure that out, you're close enough to get a black eye," Sam threatened.

It was the first time Sam experienced something with Freddie when Carly wasn't with them. The first time the gang went to the Groovy Smoothie, it was Carly, Freddie, and Sam. The three of them were always together, leaving them with the same stories to tell about the first time they did this or that.

Carly wasn't there when Sam took Freddie to Fried Chicken Haven. The brunette was distraught by the time her two best friends answered her phone calls, which she'd been making for most of the day, wondering where everyone had disappeared to. When Sam and Freddie crossed the threshold into the Shay's loft, Carly demanded to know where they'd been. She didn't understand the, "Nowhere!" they answered with together or the smiles that followed. She was left out - and Carly Shay hated being left out.

A week later, after Freddie and Carly were both handed signed papers allowing them to get their driving permits, Sam took her test, too. She volunteered to go last - Carly and Freddie wanted to take the test more than she did anyway - but when she situated herself behind the wheel, she took a deep breath. The instructor had his paper ready, a pen between his fingers, waiting patiently for Sam to begin. She glanced in the mirror, her eyes searching the backseat. Carly gave her a thumbs-up, mouthing, "You can do this!" Freddie held his hands in front of his chest, pretending he was holding a wheel between them, reminding Sam where to keep her hands on the real steering wheel. She placed them where Freddie instructed and slowly removed her foot from the brake.

She passed her test.

Spencer took the three teens out to celebrate that night. The four of them spent the evening together, eventually getting so loud at the fancy restaurant Spencer chose that they were asked to leave. They headed back to the Shay's loft for two or three hours, then Sam said she had to get home so she could try telling her mom the good news, too. As soon as she started down the hall, a hand wrapped around her elbow.

"Tomorrow night. Fried Chicken Haven," Freddie declared, taking Sam by surprise. "We're going to have our own celebration."

Sam smiled. Freddie wasn't in love with her - not when they first met in sixth grade nor when he took control and said they were going to Fried Chicken Haven - but there was definitely a difference between the guy who helped her get her driving permit and the boy she knew back when Jake was the most popular guy in school…

* * *

><p><em>It was late. The iCarly web cast ended hours ago, but Sam and Freddie hadn't gone home. Instead, they sat together in the studio, waiting for Carly to return. Jake had invited her (just her. He didn't even glance at the other two people in the room when making his offer) to take a walk. Sam wanted to hear the details the moment Carly got back, or at least she claimed that was why she stuck around. Freddie just wanted to make sure Carly made it home safe and sound.<em>

"_Wow," Freddie broke the silence that had overtaken the room. "I guess Jake really is Mr. Awesome. We got more viewers tonight than we've ever had!"_

"_Really?" Sam asked dubiously. "You must have done one heck of a job fixing his voice then. It sounded horrible live!"_

"_Didn't you hear the edited version?" _

"_Nah. You wore one pair of earphones and Carly had the other. I was stuck listening to the real thing."_

_Partly so Sam could listen to Jake without bleeding ears and partly because he wanted to show off his editing skills, Freddie played-back the performance. Sam, who was lying in one of the beanbags lazily, sat up straight when she heard the song._

"_That's Jake?" she questioned, waiting for Freddie's conformation. "Well, well, well…I guess you are good for something after all, Fredhead. That audio track sounds amazing."_

_Sam rarely gave out compliments. She NEVER gave them to Freddie. He wasn't sure if he should thank her for her kind remark or grab something to defend himself with if she decided to attack him. _

"_After watching that, every girl in school is going to be all over Jake at school," she sighed, getting to her feet. "I won't be able to walk through the hall without hearing chiz like, 'Oh Jake, you were great on iCarly!' 'Jake, will you marry me?' It'll be so annoying."_

_The blonde headed toward the elevator, hitting the button that would eventually open the door. Freddie had a pretty good idea where she was on going. She hadn't eaten anything since the web show ended. She probably planned on raiding the Shay's kitchen._

_Freddie just had one question to ask before she headed downstairs._

"_Why do you think the girls flirting with Jake will be annoying?" He flinched, waiting for the punch to come, which he knew he would receive for asking a personal question. "Won't you be joining them?"_

_To his surprise, no pain ever came. He waited several moments, just to make sure Sam wasn't going for a sneak attack. When he finally allowed his eyes to open, he saw Sam still standing by the elevator, her eyes locked on the floor._

"_I don't think so," she said slowly. "Maybe I should go crazy over Jake like all the other girls, but…I don't know. He's not really my type."_

_Freddie stepped closer to his friend, folding his arms over his chest. "Sam Puckett has a type when it comes to guys? I pictured you as one of those girls who didn't need a boyfriend. You know, someone who's strong, independent…"_

"_Just because I'm strong doesn't mean I can't fall in love," Sam protested. "When it happens, I don't want it to be with someone like Jake. He's so popular, every girl wants him just because he looks good…I'd rather have a guy with a brain, not just looks."_

"_A brain?" Freddie repeated with a scoff. "You have seen your grades, haven't you? If you dated someone smart, you would have to be able to make conversation with them."_

"_I didn't say he had to be like Einstein! It would be nice if he knew about something other than sports though. I want him to be smart, funny, easy to talk to. He doesn't have to be the best looking guy in the world, as long as he knows how to make mama happy!"_

_A loud DING announced the elevator arriving. Sending a, "Catch you later, dork!" over her shoulder, Sam got inside, disappearing from Freddie's sight seconds later. _

_Knowing Sam would be gone for quite some time, Freddie sat in the beanbag she'd been seated in before. It was still warm from her body, a fact that would have grossed Freddie out when he was that little child who thought girls had cooties. As it was, it felt kind of…good to know Sam had warmed the spot up for him._

_He was in love with Carly. Carly was the first girl he fell in love with and he would always be in love with her. Sam was just the best friend he had to put up with for Carly's sake. She brought him pain, both emotionally and physically (emotionally due to the insults she always threw at him. It got discouraging after someone told you how awful you were at everything you tried to do. Physically thanks to all the punches and kicks and violence). _

_But, as much as Freddie wanted to believe he only hung out with Sam because of Carly, he wasn't so sure that was the truth. He and Sam were never together when Carly wasn't with them (Freddie could only imagine what damage she would cause without Carly around to call her off), but since iCarly started, he and Sam had grown closer. Even during the past week, while getting ready to have Jake on the show, Freddie and Sam agreed on something for the first time since they'd met._

_He could still see the smile on Sam's face as she stood at his side, the two of them revealing the results of Jake's sound test by shouting, "Check!" He remembered the interested expression on Sam's face when she asked why he repeated, "Cinnamon buns," into a microphone (before she got bored and walked away, leaving Freddie to strangle said microphone). He felt her rough hands as they forced him into the hallway when Carly said the lighting needed checking. And then there was the memory that stood out above the others: the disgusted look on Sam's face as he begged Carly to kiss him, leading the blonde to proclaim, "I'm going to puke all over both of you!"_

_Freddie Benson was in love with Carly Shay. And Samantha Puckett? Well, it was very possible she was slowly transforming into a true friend._

* * *

><p>Melanie fell asleep on the ride home from Fried Chicken Haven. Sam thought about pushing her twin away when her head landed on Sam's shoulder, but she changed her mind, figuring acting as a pillow was better than returning to the iCarly website. Instead, she turned her gaze to the window, her eyes focusing on the full moon dangling in the black sky.<p>

Softly, making sure Melanie stayed asleep and the other passengers couldn't hear her, Sam began singing. She wasn't normally a girl who sang just for the fun of it, but the song was stuck in her head and she needed a way to get it out. The lyrics came easily even though she hadn't heard them in years:

_You're so beautiful _

_I need the world to see_

_You're my miracle _

_Just take the time that you need_

_To breathe _

_And never mind the things I've done_

_You make me feel like I'm the raising sun_

_You bathe me in your light_

_And show me it's alright _

_And I know that you're the one_

_And you'll always be the one_

_And you'll always be_

_You'll always be the one_

_And you'll always be_

_You'll always be the one_

* * *

><p>What did you think? Too long? Were the flashbacks stupid?<p>

Let me know in your review! (Please?)


	4. iMiss You

You guys are seriously the BEST reviewers in the world! Thank you so much for sticking with this story and faithfully leaving reviews. Most of the time, my stories will get the most reviews after the first chapter then pan out for awhile, but you guys...Wow. You really know how to make a girl feel giddy. You review count hasn't gone down at all since I started this story. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and/or review!

As for the slow update...I hope you can understand as fellow writers how hard it is for me to write a new chapter. I get an idea in my head, but after I start writing it, it doesn't come out the way I want it to, so I have to keep changing it until it turns out in a way I like and I HOPE you guys enjoy reading. Soooo...Sorry it's taken me a week to update. Please forgive me! Please?

Anyway, the episodes included in this chapter are as follows: iHate Sam's Boyfriend, iWin a Date, iGo to Japan, and, for Sam's flashback, iMake Sam Girlier.

HUGE shout-outs go to:

Swarley180 for giving me ideas to use later on in the story.

randomisking for suggesting a clip from iWin a Date.

Kiganchee for giving me a whole list of episodes to use after reading the first chapter.

(If your name isn't on the list, please don't feel offened. I LOVE all my reviewers!)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, although the real owner of iCarly did post a new video yesterday of the cast at their first run-through for the new season. Raise your hand if you watched the video!

* * *

><p><strong>IMiss You<strong>

_2:59 AM_

It was official: Melanie Puckett had lost her mind.

"That's it!" she exclaimed, forcing their front door open in the most un-lady like manner Sam had ever witnessed her twin use. "I just got home a few hours ago for a week long visit, I was exhausted before I left school because my exams just finished and I stayed up late every night for two weeks so I could study, you made me go to some insane buffet that I'm not even sure was legally allowed to serve food, and now, it's nearly three o'clock in the morning! I'm going to bed!"

Sam watched in awe as her sister marched toward the staircase, slipping out of her heels along the way so she could climb them faster. She had never seen Melanie so angry before. As the good sister, usually Melanie was able to keep her frustrations in check, even when she knew Sam was only doing or saying something in order to annoy her. Apparently, her temper short-circuited the later she stayed up.

Shrugging, Sam grabbed the suitcase that still waited for her in the kitchen. The only reason she hadn't ran away was because she wanted one last meal. Fried Chicken Haven took care of her hunger issues. Now that Melanie was finally heading to bed, she had the perfect opportunity to leave.

"Goodnight, Mel!" Sam cried even though the other blonde was already out of sight, probably making herself comfortable in the guest room she slept in whenever she came home. "I hope you enjoy being an only child!"

The door was right in front of her. All Sam had to do was reach out with the hand not grasping a suitcase, turn the knob, and walk into her new life-

-Which would be a lot easier if someone wasn't grabbing her shoulder, turning her to face the living room.

"Okay," Melanie said firmly, "This is the last time I'm going to say it: You are not running away. You're in love with Freddie. Freddie's in love with you. Either go back to the stupid lock-in so you can talk things over with him or go to sleep and call him tomorrow. At this point, I don't really care what you do, Samantha, as long as you don't leave this house to live with hobos!"

"This is the last time I'm going to say this!" Sam retorted, putting a hand on each of Melanie's cheeks and bringing their faces within inches of each other. "Fredward Benson does not love me!"

Pushing Sam's hands off her cheeks, Melanie kept one of them, locking their fingers. Sam allowed Melanie to drag her to the couch, but not without slumping, groaning, and tossing her head back in irritation. She knew exactly what was coming before they sat down and Melanie pulled her cell phone out for the second time that evening.

"Exhibit A," she said, holding the screen up where Sam could see. "Jonah, your boyfriend, getting wedgie-bounced because Freddie was jealous so you decided to break up with him."

"That's not why I wedgie-bounced him!" Sam protested. "He tried to kiss Carly behind my back!"

Melanie clicked on another video. "Exhibit B: Shirtless Gibby dancing on a table while you, Freddie, and Carly watch. Obviously, the four of you are on a double date."

"Obviously, you need to have your head examined. I was out with a guy named Rubin, Carly was with Gibby, and Freddie was with some girl who had a huge crush on him. Can you believe he didn't ask her out the second he found out she liked him? I mean, come on. How many chances has that dork had to actually date someone?"

"Exhibit C: Your trip to Japan. Have you ever watched the clip where iCarly won that award? Freddie hugged Carly first but his hug with you lasted ten times as long! And, you even let him poke your stomach."

"So? You've never let a guy poke your stomach before?"

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you! You never let people touch you like that without breaking one of their limbs unless you're really close to them, like you are with Carly and me. Admit it, Sam! By the time you guys traveled to Japan, you'd started to see Freddie as a real friend and not just a punching bag."

Chewing her lip, Sam tried to think of another excuse. Why had her mouth suddenly gone dry? She was the queen when it came to lying (maybe not teaching her technique to others since Spencer cracked the first time he tried after she gave him lessons, but she was pretty good at it herself). She shouldn't have to come up with a lie anyway.

She wasn't in love with Freddie while she was dating Jonah, even after the nub agreed with Carly not to tell her about the failed kiss, which almost hinted that Freddie was trying to protect Sam from getting hurt. Why did he care if Jonah cheated on her? Surely it was more of an, 'I'm-agreeing-with-Carly-because-I-love-her' than 'I-don't-want-Sam-getting-hurt-because-I-have-secret-feelings-for-her.'

She wasn't in love when Gibby played iWin a Date on iCarly and Freddie stated for the millionth time he was in love with Carly, leaving Sam with a hurt expression as she kept her eyes on the bowl of cold chili she stole from the Shay's fridge. The pang she felt in her chest wasn't because she felt jealous of her best friend and the attention she got from Freddork - she'd just eaten too much food that day and was feeling a tiny bit gassy.

She definitely was not in love when she, Carly, and Freddie went to Japan. Hadn't she spent most of that trip fighting with Freddie about the stupid video camera he brought with him, who had the worst underwear, and…didn't she even push him out of a plane? One little hug didn't prove Freddie forgave her for all the mean things she'd done to him over the years. Besides, who said Melanie got to decide how Sam felt? Maybe she let Freddie poke her because she was tired (hadn't the three of them spent an entire day stranded in the middle of nowhere, trying to find their way back to civilization?). Or perhaps she happened to be in a very good mood after winning the award and didn't feel like knocking Fredward out.

No matter which way she looked at it, Sam knew one thing for sure: Melanie had no proof Freddie ever fell in love with anyone other than Carly.

"You're going to deny all of it, aren't you?" Melanie's voice was soft as her eyes locked on Sam's face. "I'm not trying to be mean, Samantha. I'm not forcing you to watch these clips to remind you of whatever happened tonight between you and Freddie. I just don't want you to miss out on something that could make you really, really happy."

Exiting the iCarly website, Melanie rose to her feet. Sam wanted her to leave. She wanted Melanie to go upstairs again and not come down until it was too late to stop Sam from following through with her original plan. If she didn't run away soon, Carly would come looking for her. As soon as the lock-in was over and students were allowed to leave Ridgeway, Sam knew her best friend would want to talk.

How could Sam talk to Carly about what happened? What was she supposed to say? 'You know how we promised there wouldn't be any more secrets between us? Yeah, well, I lied. I fell in love with Freddie and didn't tell you. But don't worry about it, Carls. He still loves you too much to pay any attention to me.'

"I guess that's my cue," Melanie broke into Sam's thoughts, her feet trudging toward the stairs. "Your mind is already made up and you're not listening to a word I'm saying. It's pointless for me to keep searching through old clips if you're going to argue with everything I say. I guess this is goodbye."

She stopped before stepping up on the first stair, took a deep breath, and then, before Sam knew what was going on, two arms wrapped around her. Melanie was hugging her - hugging her so tight that Sam could barely get enough air in her lungs to continue breathing.

"What the chiz?" she demanded, pushing her sister away while climbing to her feet.

"I'm sorry!" Melanie apologized. "It's just…You said you're running away, right? This is the last time I'm ever going to see you!"

"It's not like you saw me much anyway," Sam said. "You only come home a few times a year."

"That doesn't mean I don't miss you."

_That doesn't mean I don't miss you. _Sam stood, frozen, giving the words a chance to sink in. Had she ever heard them before? The Puckett family wasn't emotional - the only time Pam told Sam she loved her was when they were trapped in that stupid therapy box - and Sam would be the first to admit that she didn't spend her days and nights worrying about how Melanie was doing. She always thought Melanie shared the same courtesy, forgetting about Sam while she was gone. For years, she even led herself to believe that she was the reason Melanie didn't visit more often, that Melanie hated coming home because she had to deal with all of Sam's shenanigans. She never imagined Melanie would actually miss her.

Giving Sam a final smile, Melanie turned her back on her twin, sprinting up the stairs like she needed to get away before it was too late. Sam watched her go, unsure what to do next. It was the moment she'd been waiting for, her chance to run away while no one was round to stop her-

-Instead, she flopped back down on the couch, threw her legs on the coffee table as though it were a footstool, and did the one thing she'd found herself doing too much lately:

She started thinking about Freddie.

* * *

><p><em>Carly was supposed help Sam get ready for a date with Pete. They had everything planned: Sam would come over right after school ended, they would head up to Carly's room to choose an outfit, and then, while Carly helped straighten Sam's hair, she would squeeze in a lesson about how to act more girly. It was the pattern the girls followed every day and would continue following as long as Sam wanted to keep Pete's interest.<em>

_One of the many perks about dating Pete was that Sam saw less and less of Fredweird. He distanced himself from his two best friends - apparently he found it boring to sit around talking about clothes and hair and whether or not Sam should be allowed to take food from the trash. Instead of seeing him every afternoon at Carly's loft, Sam only saw the tech producer on days when they held iCarly rehearsals. She had Pete, the guy of her dreams. She only had to see Freddie a few times a week._

_Life was great._

_On one of the afternoons when Carly and Sam planned on going through with their daily Pete schedule, Carly got called to the principal's office. Sam, who was almost asleep when she heard the words, "Please report to the principal's office immediately,", started to stand up-_

_-Only to have her mouth drop when Carly gently pushed her down again._

"_They said your name instead of mine?" she asked. "What did you do, kiddo?"_

_Carly shrugged in response, leaving the classroom and a bewildered Sam behind. Needless to say, Sam couldn't concentrate on her math for the rest of the lesson (not that she was paying attention before anyway). Her mind was whirling, trying to remember anything she'd done recently that Carly might be taking the blame for. _

_By the time the bell sounded, signaling the end of math, Sam sprang from her desk. She pushed students aside in the crowded hallway, her eyes searching for Carly. She jumped when she felt someone tap her shoulder._

"_Hey," Freddie greeted. He was lucky Sam was too worried about her best friend to punish him for sneaking up on her. "Where's Carly?"_

"_That's the million dollar question," Sam responded, grabbing Freddie's arm (not because she wanted to hurt him. Students were rushing past them, trying to make it to their next class before the bell rang. If Sam and Freddie were going to stick together, they had to be connected somehow and no way was Sam going to parade through the halls holding Freddie's hand!). "Come on, I think I see her!"_

_By the time Freddie and Sam made it out of the throng, the locker Carly stood in front of was nearly empty. She held her backpack in her hands, which she was stuffing full of books. _

"_Are they ending school early?" Sam asked eagerly._

"_No, they're not ending school early. Not for you, anyway." There was a sad expression on Carly's face. "Spencer set something else on fire. Turns out that he actually burned himself this time. He's in the hospital." _

"_Oh, no!" and "Is he okay?" and "Don't worry, Carly, we'll go with you!" came from Freddie and Sam as they each headed toward their own lockers. Carly whistled loudly, bringing her best friends to a stand-still._

"_I would love the support, guys, but Spencer's my brother. They're only excusing me for the afternoon, not you."_

"_So?" Sam demanded. "I'll leave anyway. It's not like I've never skipped school before."_

"_She won't skip," Freddie promised, rolling his eyes. "There's only a couple classes left, so why don't Sam and I meet you at the hospital as soon-,"_

"_No!" Carly's shout was firm enough to cause Freddie and Sam to exchange glances. "I mean, please don't come to the hospital. I really think Spencer's going to be fine and I'd hate for you to miss out on your date for nothing, Sam."_

"_How do you expect me to go on the date without you around to help? I don't know anything about acting girly!"_

_Carly's chocolate eyes landed on Freddie._

"_No," he said firmly. "Don't even think about it, Carly!"_

"_It won't be that bad!" Carly protested. "I'll swing by my loft, pick out an outfit for Sam to wear, and then I'll give it to your mom. All you have to do is bring it to Sam and then give her a few pointers about how to act around Pete."_

"_Aw, be serious!" Sam jumped in, finally understanding what Carly and Freddie were talking about. "Don't let Freddie coach me! Pete will dump me tonight if I take advice from that nub!"_

_What other option did she have? Carly was busy taking care of Spencer and Sam had no chance of getting another date from Pete without someone helping her. So, when five o'clock rolled around later that evening, Sam wasn't surprised to hear a knock on her front door._

_She also wasn't surprised when Frothy, her rabid cat, jumped outside the moment the door opened. Unfortunately for Freddie, Frothy didn't like strangers. _

_Sam could very easily have separated her cat from Freddie's ankles. Frothy wouldn't listen to many people, but he and Sam had an understanding with each other when it came to training. Frothy was more afraid of Sam than she was of him - after all, she did bite his ear pretty hard the one time he scratched her._

_Freddie, who wasn't expecting an attack from Frothy, yelped in pain when the cat dug his teeth into the teen's leg. The clothes in his arms went flying; Sam ducked just before a shoe tried impaling her. She would have called Frothy off, but watching Freddie withering on the ground, one tiny cat holding him captive, was too funny. She laughed until her stomach hurt, clutching her sides to stay standing. _

"_Thanks for the help!" Freddie said sarcastically when Sam finally picked Frothy up, holding the struggling animal in her arms while it hissed at the nerd. "I don't need this, you know! I could be at home right now, working on my homework or doing something worthwhile!"_

"_Pick up the clothes on your way inside," Sam instructed, blowing off Freddie's warning. "Gosh, you're such a klutz!"_

_Freddie had never been in the Puckett's house before. He hung out with Sam every day, but it was always either at Carly's loft, the Groovy Smoothie, or, on the rare occasions Sam got super mad at him about something and needed to carry or drag him to Carly's, his own living room. He never had a reason to visit Sam in her natural habitat._

_Everything looked exactly as Freddie pictured it: messy, out of place, and unlivable. _

"_So," Sam said, appearing out of nowhere (hadn't she disappeared around a corner a few seconds ago? Where was the Freddie-eating cat?). "Here's how tonight's going to work: I'm going to change into the outfit Carly chose for me, you're going to tell me I look great, and then-,"_

"_Why do you have so many meatballs?"_

_Glancing over her shoulder, Sam smirked at the huge bowl sitting on her counter. "Carly said guys don't like girls who eat more than they do. To keep myself from getting too hungry, I eat before Pete and I go out."_

"_There's no possible way you could eat that many meatballs at once," Freddie protested._

_Forgetting about Carly's outfit and the fact that Pete would be arriving soon, Sam grabbed the meatballs. She dangled them in Freddie's face, raising her eyebrows suggestively. _

"_That sounded like a challenge, Benson."_

"_Maybe that's because it was a challenge, Puckett."_

_That was all the encouragement Sam needed. With Freddie watching, she began devouring her meatballs one by one-_

_-Until half an hour later, after Freddie admitted Sam could eat the meatballs in one sitting but he didn't want her to finish them. Instead, he reached for an item lying on the floor -which just so happened to be a golf club - and suggested they do something else with the remaining balls of meat. _

_Thus, Meat Golf was born._

"_YES!" Sam cried, throwing her golf club into the air at the end of her and Freddie's sixth round. "Mama wins again! How does it feel to lose five times in a row?"_

"_I still beat you once," Freddie reminded her._

"_Only the first game, and that's because you kept changing the rules every five minutes! If you would have played fair instead of trying to make sure you won-,"_

"_Oh, so now I cheated?"_

"_How else to you explain your win when you lost the next five times?"_

"_I don't know. It can't be because I actually played better than you or anything!"_

"_Look, Freddifer, if you're accusing me of being a worse player than you-,"_

_They were forced to stop shouting when Sam's cell phone went off, signaling she was getting a text. She read it, groaned loudly, and pushed Freddie out of her way as she ran to the spot they'd left Carly's clothes._

"_You nub!" she called over her shoulder, heading for the staircase Freddie hadn't noticed before. "You made me forget about Pete! Now I'm going to have to rush if I want to be ready before he gets here!"_

"_Hey, don't blame me that you have to give yourself a total make-over whenever you see the guy," Freddie protested. "If Pete really liked you, he'd like all of you, not just the girl you pretend to be around him."_

_Sam's only response was, "Nyahh!" A door slammed seconds later and Freddie guessed she was in her room, finally changing clothes. Maybe a good guest would have waited patiently for the owner of the house to return, but curiosity got the best of Freddie. He found himself wandering around the Puckett's, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure Sam wasn't back. If she caught him snooping around her house…he didn't even want to think about what pain she would put him through if she found out._

_Not that he found much to look at anyway. The house was so messy, Freddie could barely find a path to walk along. However, he did spot a shelf showcasing many, many photos…_

_Most of them were of Sam. A few contained people Freddie assumed were various family members. Most of them were recent pictures - taken either at the beginning of the school year or shortly after - but some of them had a younger blonde haired girl. Freddie smirked at a lot of the photos, recognizing the smile on his friend's face. He knew that smile well, maybe better than anyone else: Sam wasn't thinking about the normal things girls thought about when smiling. Oh, no. She had to be thinking about something else, like people fighting with each other, or, in any picture taken within the past few years, torturing Freddie. It was amazing how sweet she could appear in a picture compared to how aggressive she truly was._

_The only thing Freddie didn't like was that in some of the photos, Sam modeled dresses. It wasn't so much that he minded seeing her dressed up. Yes, he was in love with Carly, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the fact that Sam had a nice body, too. No, what really bothered him was that the dresses just didn't look…right…on Sam. In Freddie's opinion, she looked better in jeans and t-shirts than skirts. Jeans just made her look more real, more like the girl he knew and not the faker she pretended to be for guys like Pete._

_At the time, Freddie had no idea the girl wearing dresses wasn't Sam at all but the twin sister he would someday date._

"_Hey, Fredward!"_

_Freddie jumped, running away from the photos as fast as he could. Luckily, he made it back to the room Sam had left him in just as the person in question finished her descant off the stairs. She had no idea he ever moved._

"_So?" she asked when Freddie didn't say a word. "How do I look?"_

_Carly ended up choosing a purple dress. Sam spun around, trying to give Freddie the full effect. He frowned when she faced him again._

"_I miss the old Sam," he muttered softly._

"_Excuse me?" _

_Shaking his head, Freddie pasted a smile on his lips. "You look great. I'm sure Pete's going to love it."_

_Even as Freddie left (with Sam pushing him through the door, saying he better be off her front lawn before Pete arrived), he couldn't stop his hands from curling into fists. He didn't like Pete. Pete was changing Sam - his Sam - into some girl he didn't recognize. Would he ever get his friend back?_

_He knew he wouldn't be happy until Sam turned back into the girl who ate meatballs on dares and played Meat Golf and beat up anyone who got in her way. Until then, she wasn't really Sam to him. _

_She was Samantha, the girl who needed to learn how to have fun._

* * *

><p>Light snores flowed from the guest bedroom. Sam pushed the door open gently, tiptoed inside, and knelt beside the bed. In the dark, she could just make out Melanie's face. She'd fallen asleep quickly and Sam hated to wake her up. She looked so peaceful and, if what she said earlier about her sleeping pattern over the past few weeks was true, she could use the rest.<p>

At the same time, Sam needed a sister. Her issues with Freddie were far from solved; there was no way she could figure out what to do on her own. She needed Melanie's help and she needed it before morning broke and Carly decided she and Sam needed to have a chat. Carly wasn't the one Sam wanted to talk to. Freddie was too close to both of them to talk about him romantically.

"Melanie," Sam whispered.

The sleeping Puckett moaned, swatted blindly at the air, and rolled over so Sam could see nothing but her back.

"Melanie," Sam repeated, poking her between the shoulder blades. "Are you awake?"

Another groan, but this time, Melanie turned her head. Her drowsy blue eyes landed on what probably looked like a huge black lump.

"Samantha?" she inquired slowly. "I thought you were leaving?"

"Come with me," Sam ordered, trying to grab her sister's hand. "I need to show you something."

"Can't it wait until the morning?"

Unsure what else to do, Sam did the only thing she could think of: she picked Melanie up and threw her over her shoulder, blanket and all.

The Puckett sisters left their house for the second time, only now, Sam didn't wait for a bus. Her feet knew exactly which way to go. She'd walked the same path many times before, whenever Pam was too busy to drive her or she snuck out of the house when she was supposedly grounded. She had a feeling the trail would be ingrained in her brain for the rest of her life.

Sam and Melanie were on their way to Bushwell Plaza.

* * *

><p>If anyone's worried about Sam acting out of character at the end by saying she needs a sister, please forgive me. I wasn't trying to write her out of character - it's not like she actually admitted to Melanie that she needed her. And she's not going to get all lovey-dovey now, either. She's beginning to realize that as much as she wants to run away from her problems, Melanie might be able to help her think of a better solution. Really she just wants to hear her sister out before handing her life over to the hobos. She still isn't convinced Freddie loves her or anything like that.<p>

So, what did you guys think? I'm not sure how much I liked the flashback. I just really wanted to include Freddie's first time at the Puckett's house since he states in iTwins that he's been there before. What did you think? Was it a really stupid idea?

Review and let me know what you'd like to see me improve on in the next chapter? *The next chapter will include iReunite with Missy, if that helps anyone!*


	5. iWonder

Thanks for the reviews, guys! I LOVE reading them! Thanks for sticking with this story for so long - even through all the boring parts. My bad. I was trying to figure out how to review episodes without making the story too boring and...yeah. Not sure I did a great job. I'm not even sure how much I like this story. But I did enjoy writing it and talking to my fellow iCarly people. Seriously - you guys are AWESOME!

Anyway...this is the last chapter of iProve Freddie's Love. It wasn't going to be originally, but...Well, I'll explain more at the end. Some of you may not like the ending, but...like I said, I'll explain more later.

And, you'll probably be asking yourself this soon: Melanie has been in contact with Carly over the years? I'll answer that question the following way: before Melanie went to her boarding school, I'm pretending she, Sam, and Carly were all friends. As we all know, Sam doesn't like Melanie very much, which is why she doesn't talk to her siser very often. Carly, on the other hand, seemed happy to see Melanie in iTwins. So let's just say they talk sometimes - through phone calls and texts and what not - okay? Okay!

Episodes used in this chapter: iReunite With Missy, iMust Have Locker 239, iTwins, and iKiss.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Yay!

* * *

><p><strong>iWonder<strong>

_3:18 AM_

Melanie tried showing more clips to Sam after they broke into Carly's loft (Sam missed having Freddie around to tell her how long it took her to pick the lock. He always kept track of her records). She told Sam about Freddie giving up the School at Sea thing that time Missy came to visit ("Carly and I are always in contact with each other. She told me what Freddie did but warned me not to tell you. Something about Freddie not wanting you to know he'd done something nice for your sake."). She reminded Sam of the time she and Freddie shared a locker ("According to Carly, you two were actually getting along with each other. She even told me that you let Freddie slap your cheek. Come on, Samantha! When's the last time you let someone slap you without killing them afterwards?"). She even brought up the time she visited and ended up going on a date with Freddie.

"It was a really fun date," she stated, causing Sam to roll her eyes in annoyance. "But do you want to know why I haven't dated him since that night?"

"Because you came to your senses and realized what a nub he really is?" Sam guessed.

"Not exactly. It's because I know Freddie never wanted to ask me out in the first place."

"Of course he wanted to ask you out! Why would he have done it if he didn't want-,"

"He thought I was you."

That shut Sam up. She stared at Melanie for several long moments, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. A small smile overtook Melanie's lips as she nodded in response to her twin's silent questions.

"He thought you were tricking him about me, remember?" she explained. "He thought that by asking me out, I would chicken out and admit I was really you pretending to be me. Did I ever tell you how that date went?"

Slowly, Sam shook her head. She remembered Melanie coming home that night with a grimace, but instead of asking what happened, she continued playing her video games. It wasn't until the next day while she was at Carly's and Freddie dropped by that she found out about the kiss.

"It was definitely the strangest date I've ever been on," Melanie began, laughing softly. "Freddie didn't try to impress me at all. Actually, he did everything he could to push me away. He wore a striped shirt because he knew you hated them. He kept trying to get me to confess I was you so we could go home. When he took my hand, he gave me the strangest look when I grinned at him. I even told him I thought he was really cute. He wanted to know how I could say that without vomiting."

Sam smirked to herself. Freddie certainly knew her well. If it had been her on the date instead of Melanie, he would have had her running in no time. A striped shirt, hand holding, and her lips telling him how cute he was? Knowing her, she really would have ran to the bathroom and puked.

"You know, he had the same devious look in his eyes you wear almost all the time when he asked me to dance," Melanie went on. "He thought there was no way I - well, you, really - would be able to stand the idea of dancing with him. He even tried to talk me out of it by reminding me it was a slow song and we'd have to dance pressed against each other."

Melanie and Freddie. Dancing together. Pressed against each other. Sam felt her hands curling into fists at the image forming in her mind. She closed her eyes, telling herself to remember it was years ago, back when she wasn't in love with Freddork herself. She still found it hard to believe that she and Melanie, as different as they were, ended up falling for the same guy.

"When we first got out on the dance floor, Freddie kept this huge space between us," Melanie continued, not noticing Sam's reaction. "I was the one who had to pull him closer, which is weird because usually the guy does that and I have to pull away after he tries getting too close. He refused to meet my eyes while we danced. After I told him I liked him, he refused to believe me. He said I - meaning you - hated him and that I - again, you - always have."

"Wow," Sam commented. "I can totally see why you had so much fun, Melanie. Listening to how much I hate Freddie all night, putting up with all his schemes to get you to admit you were really me…It must have been a blast!"

"I had a plan to convince Freddie it was really me though," Melanie countered. "I thought it was a great plan since you obviously hated Freddie and had never tried it before. So, I did the one thing I knew you would never do: I kissed him."

"Let me guess. You kissed him, bells rang, you saw fireworks, and you knew right then you were going to get your happily ever after, right?"

"Actually, something weird happened after our kiss. At first, Freddie's mouth dropped open like he couldn't believe I kissed him-,"

"That's understandable. There aren't a lot of girls who would willingly kiss him. It was probably a new experience for him."

"Maybe," Melanie agreed, "But you see, the strange thing is…My kiss didn't convince him I wasn't you like I hoped it would. Instead, he said the last thing I expected him to say. Something about swearing we - you and Freddie, I mean - would never do that again."

Sam jumped from the Shay's couch, trying to make a break for their kitchen before Melanie, who had her arms buried beneath her blanket, could stop her. Unfortunately, Melanie sat between her sister and the food. She stuck her legs out, letting them rest atop the coffee table, successfully blocking Sam from taking another step.

"Move your legs or suffer the consequences," Sam threatened.

"I'll move my legs," Melanie replied. "After you tell me what Freddie was talking about."

"How am I supposed to know what he was talking about? He's a dork who's hopelessly in love with Carly. For all I know, he had some kind of dream about kissing me and thought it was real!"

"Samantha…"

Sighing, Sam sat down again, knowing it was futile to deny the kiss. Freddie and his big stupid mouth had already blown away any chance Sam had of telling Melanie it never took place. Actually, hadn't Freddie told Melanie about the kiss before Sam accidentally told Carly? And he wasn't even under the influence of laughing gas when he brought it up. He spoke of the forbidden night before she did…

She would have to remember that the next time she saw him. Finally, she would have a reasonable excuse to beat him up. After all, they both swore to never speak of it again and he violated their treaty first.

"Load the website," Sam instructed, waiting for Melanie to pull out her cell phone. "I'll show you what Freddie meant."

Melanie typed in the iCarly web address, but instead of searching for a video, she handed her phone to Sam. Only moments passed before both sisters leaned close to each other, watching the tiny screen (Melanie really needed to buy herself a pear phone. Their screens were so much bigger). A memory Sam knew all too well began playing before her eyes...

* * *

><p><em>Fredison Benson was an idiot. Sure, Sam was the one who pulled a prank on him first - she constantly pulled pranks on him and he was always smart enough to yell at her and then let things simmer until she struck again - but this time, he handcuffed her to Gibby. Gibby! She had to walk around Ridgeway half the day with Gibby Gibson following her, asking the dumbest questions and trying to discuss topics Sam didn't care about. Her classmates pointed and laughed all afternoon, whispering behind her back about her predicament. She was going to be the school-wide joke for the rest of the year.<em>

_And it was all Fredward's fault. _

_He should have known she would find a way to extract her revenge. If Freddie thought he could get away with something so horrible without receiving a scratch in return, he had another thing coming. It was his fault that Sam told the world he never kissed a girl. She was planning on doing something else to him, like leaving a wild tiger free in his bedroom or something similar, but after she overheard Freddie admitting he had never kissed anyone…How could she resist? He and Carly should have made sure she was gone before having their little conversation or at least spoken in a sound-proof room. They should have known better than to use the iCarly studio less than two minutes after she left them alone._

"_That was Freddie," she happily told the iCarly audience, "Who, last week, handcuffed me to a nerd. So now, guess what?"_

_She stepped closer to the camera. Freddie had known her for years. If he didn't recognize the expression on her face, he should have known she never asked him to show himself on their web shows. Whenever he did put the camera on his face, she made sure to get in the shot, reminding him who the stars were. While she took the time to come forward, Freddie, if he was smart, should have shut off his camera. _

"_Freddie has never kissed a girl."_

_The iCarly studio fell silent. No one stopped Sam from continuing with her speech. She couldn't see Carly, but the horror on Freddie's face was what made her keep talking. Her plan was working. Freddie embarrassed her by using Gibby, so now it was her turn to embarrass him by telling the world his biggest secret._

"_Never," she pressed on. "Not once! I heard him say so myself, and Carly's a witness."_

_With a smile on her lips, Sam left the studio. She heard Carly shouting after her - "Sam. Sam! You just ruined Freddie's life!" - but she didn't care. Carly always thought she took things too far when it came to the war she and Freddie engaged in. She just didn't understand the game. Sam picked on Freddie until she got a reaction out of him, and after that reaction came (most recently through a pair of handcuffs), Sam did something to put Freddie back in his place (revealing his secret to their viewers). Carly didn't understand how pranking each other could count as a friendly relationship, but that wasn't the way Sam and Freddie saw things. Their constant bickering and fighting and pranking was their way of trying to figure out what they really were: friends or enemies. If they were forced to spend so much time together due to iCarly, obviously they couldn't be full-out enemies. On the other hand, Sam knew she and Freddie were never meant to become best friends, either. _

_Instead of agreeing to either label, Sam and Freddie played their little game from week to week, day to day, sometimes even hour to hour. Sam was never going to let Freddie come out on top. She would always beat him._

_Although Carly accused Sam of taking things too far at least once every few days, Freddie never agreed with her. He stayed in the background, refusing to stand up to whatever Sam had done to him, knowing if he said anything, whatever she chose to do later would be ten times worse than the first thing. However, as Sam grabbed a frozen fruit pop from the Shay's freezer, she turned around to find Freddie within her personal bubble._

"_Watch it, Benson, or I'll-,"_

_He knocked the frozen dessert from her hand before she could finish her threat._

"_How could you do something like that?" His voice was actually tough enough to almost make Sam flinch. Almost. "You just told thousands of people that I've never kissed anyone before!"_

"_So? Why are you so upset? All I did was tell them the truth."_

"_You told them the truth about something they have no business knowing about! Whoever I do or don't kiss should be between me and whatever girl I may or may not be kissing, not me and the rest of the world!"_

"_Chillax!" Sam ordered, bending over to retrieve her fruit pop, which she stuck in her mouth. "No one's going to remember what I said by tomorrow morning anyway. Besides, if you're so worried about it, do something about it."_

"_What am I supposed to do?" Freddie demanded. "I can't go back in time and keep you from making your little announcement!"_

"_No, you can't. But you could prove me wrong and tell the kids at school I was lying."_

"_How do you suggest I do that?"_

_In unison, the two teens turned their eyes to Carly. She had been listening to their argument from the beginning, begging her two best friends to stop and act like nothing happened, as though Sam hadn't just told the world Freddie's biggest and most personal secret. She shook her head quickly when she caught up with the direction their discussion had taken._

"_I'm sorry about what Sam did, but I'm not going to kiss you," she said. "You'll have to use someone else if you want to tell everyone Sam was lying."_

_Freddie's eyes swirled from Carly and landed on the only other female in the room. He wasn't surprised when she took the stick from between her lips (the fruit pop was already gone) and stuck it to his forehead._

"_I have to get home before my mom realizes I left," she explained, heading toward the front door. "Catch you later, Carls!" She smiled evilly in Freddie's direction. "Have fun at school tomorrow, Freddish!"_

_Sam wanted Freddie to suffer. She knew a few people would tease him after finding out he'd never kissed anyone, but she never thought the ridicule would be bad enough to keep him from attending school. As the week wore on and the mocking didn't die at all, Sam felt her heart beginning to cave._

_Maybe being handcuffed to Gibby for one afternoon wasn't as bad as having the world know you were still waiting for your first kiss._

* * *

><p>"You said it right on iCarly?" Melanie asked, staring at her cell phone in awe. "You just came right out and said that Freddie has never kissed anyone?"<p>

"You saw the video, didn't you?" Sam retorted.

"Yeah…But…How does that lead to your first kiss with Freddie? I mean, you have kissed him, haven't you? I don't see why else he would have said what he did on my date with him-,"

Without saying a word, Sam clicked on the next clip. It was the web cast she and Carly filmed exactly one week after her declaration to the world about Freddie - a web cast the two best friends filmed alone since their technical producer refused to leave his fire escape…

* * *

><p>"<em>You like ruined his whole life and you don't even care. You went too far this time and you can't fix it."<em>

_Those were the words going through Sam's mind as she stared into the camera, trying to put on a happy face for the people logging on to iCarly. How could she act happy? Carly was right. She really had taken things too far this time. Freddie missed a week of school, two iCarly rehearsals, and now, he wasn't even there to make fun of while filming the show. The only thing left to look at was a camera without anyone standing behind it._

_As much as she hated to admit it, even if it was only to herself, Sam missed Freddie. There was no one for her to pick on when he wasn't around, no one to rattle off pointless information, no one to countdown 5, 4, 3, 2 before starting iCarly. Not only that, but Carly acted different, too. Freddie was the one who usually helped her with the iCarly stuff while Sam sat around, being lazy. Since Freddie started flaking on rehearsals, leaving Carly to do all the work, she had turned a lot more irritable than normal._

_Something had to change. Maybe Carly was right and there was nothing Sam could do to fix things, but she had to try. After all, it was her fault. If anyone stood a chance of making things right again, it was her._

"_On the last iCarly, I told you guys that Freddie never kissed anyone. And that was really personal and I shouldn't have said it on the show. For all you people out there who have been teasing Freddie about it, lay off because I bet a whole lot of you haven't kissed anyone either…including me."_

_Sam wasn't sure why she lied about her first kiss to begin with. It wasn't like she thought anyone who hadn't kissed before was some kind of geek (although apparently that was how her classmates felt considering the way they picked on Freddie). A lot of people probably saved their first kiss for when they met that special person, the one they knew they were going to spend the rest of their life with. Sam didn't exactly fall into that category. She more so hadn't kissed anyone because most of the boys at Ridgeway found her abrasive. The few boyfriends she'd had in the past…well, their relationships didn't last long enough to reach the kissing stage._

_One thing Sam wasn't afraid of was other people. She could handle it if someone chose to tease her about her never having kissed anyone - she really would more than likely send that person to the hospital. Freddie wasn't nearly as tough as she was. He couldn't handle the pressure when someone pointed a laughing finger in his direction. Sam had to talk to him. She had to tell him what she said on iCarly and how she was prepared to beat up anyone who made fun of him now, so he might as well come back to school._

_Feeling more nervous than she'd ever felt before, Sam made her way to the fire escape. _

* * *

><p>"Samantha?" Melanie asked, watching her sister as she leaped from the couch. "What are you doing?"<p>

"I…left the oven on at the house."

Melanie blinked in surprise. "You're going all the way back home to turn off the oven? We weren't even baking anything!"

Sam was long past the point of listening. She had her mind set on where she needed to be and she was in a hurry to get there. Her heart drummed in her chest and she had no idea why she suddenly felt the urge to go there. All she knew was her feet were heading there whether the rest of her body wanted to tag along or not.

"Don't leave me here alone!" Melanie cried to Sam's retreating back. "What if Carly and Spencer get home?"

Her only answer was the door closing as Sam left the loft.

The reason Sam took Melanie from her bed and brought her to Bushwell was because she thought maybe being at Carly's house would be the final shove she needed to really listen to what Melanie was trying to tell her. How could she believe Freddie was in love with her while sitting around her living room or at Fried Chicken Haven? Freddie had only been in each of those places one time; his presence had left both of them a long time ago. He was always at Carly's though, or the studio, or his own loft right across the hall. Maybe if she was in one of the places he spent the most time at, one of the locations where they spent the most time together, Melanie's tales would seem more believable.

The plan didn't work. Sam didn't believe Freddie was in love with her or that he would ever return the feelings she was stupid enough to reveal during the lock-in. Everything Melanie pointed out to her were acts of friendship. Little things that proved how much the relationship between herself and Freddie had grown over the years, not examples of why Freddie would suddenly decide he was in love with her.

Freddie Benson was not in love with Sam Puckett.

…Or was he?

By the time Sam reached her destination, she was breathless. She leaned against the windowpane, trying to get air moving through her lungs again. She didn't notice the window was already open.

She was back at the fire escape. It held so many memories for her - it was where she apologized to Freddie for all the bad things she did to him, where the two of them discussed first kisses, where they both agreed to share their first kiss as long as they went right back to hating each other afterwards and never told anyone their secret.

She could still remember the night of that kiss, although if it was because the kiss was with Freddie or simply because it was the first time she ever kissed anyone, she couldn't be sure. Sometimes, late at night when she sat alone in her room and couldn't fall asleep, she could close her eyes and remember the feeling of Freddie's lips against hers, the way they moved together perfectly and the spark she felt during those eight seconds. Was that the night she fell in love? How was she supposed to know? It was kind of hard to figure out what your heart was trying to tell you when you ordered it to shut up, to forget the kiss ever happened, that you really hated the guy who owned your lips' virginity.

Thinking she was alone, Sam prepared to open the window, allowing her body access to the outside world. However, when she went to open the glass, she nearly fell onto the fire escape. Holy chiz…Who left windows open for people to fall through like that?

Finally, she noticed a blue chair.

Freddie didn't stand up when he turned around to meet Sam's gaze; he didn't have to. Instead, he motioned with his hand for her to come forward.

Sam had no idea what was about to happen. Freddie was still supposed to be at the lock-in with Brad. He was supposed to be finishing up the project or telling Carly all about how stupid Sam had acted or…something. By no means was he supposed to be sitting on the fire escape, waiting for his blonde haired demon.

"What's up?" he asked.

He had a habit of talking too much when it came to his techy stuff and never enough when his feelings were on the line. Not that Sam minded his lack of conversation. She was never good at expressing her feelings through words, either.

"Nothing," she replied.

She sat with her back against the windowpane. He stayed in his chair. It felt so much like the night of their first kiss, only now, so much more was on the line than a simple kiss between two friends. Sam had admitted she was in love with the nub less than four hours ago. The ball was in his court now. Would he return the feelings, deny them, or pretend nothing happened like they did after kissing before?

Freddie finally stood up. He walked across the fire escape, leading Sam to believe he was going to sit on the staircase just like he'd done before. Instead, he joined her on the windowpane.

"We need to talk."

* * *

><p>Talk about cliff-hangers! I'm sorry, I wasn't going to end the story like that! Actually, I was planning on having this whole back story with Freddie and Carly at the lock-in and...<p>

Well, anyway...I realized that was kind of stupid. Why? Because none of us have any idea where iOMG part 2 is going to begin. Is Freddie going to return Sam's feelings? I don't know. Is Sam going to pretend nothing happened? I don't know. Are they going to go out to eat at some fancy (purple) place and talk about their feelings? I don't know (although my money's on that one due to one of the videos Dan posted on his youtube channel).

My point? The goal of this story wasn't to prove Seddie is going to happen. I just wanted to prove to you guys - and myself - that we have hope for Seddie. I don't know if all the things Melanie pointed out was Freddie falling in love or not. I don't know if Freddie really does hate Sam. All I know is there are a LOT of moments on the show between Sam and Freddie that seem to prove they are falling for each other. And that was the goal of this story: to bring out some of these points.

With that being said, I'm going to let Dan decides what happens between our characters instead of trying to take over for my own thoughts and ideas. Thanks so much for reading!

However, if you guys would like to know what I had planned for the ending of this story, I would think about writing some kind of short sequel...

Review and let me know what you thought of the end?


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